Acclaimed classical guitarist Marcin Dylla will teach at SFCM during the fall semester of 2016. His guest appointment kicks off a new faculty artist-in-residence program that offers guitar students the extraordinary opportunity to learn from a different artist of international stature for a full semester each fall.

The Washington Post describes Dylla as "among the most gifted guitarists on the planet.” Since his career took flight with a string of nineteen first prize victories at international competitions, including the 2007 Guitar Foundation of America International Competition, Dylla has performed as a soloist and with major orchestras throughout North America, Europe and Asia, and appeared at virtually every major European and North American guitar festival. He is a professor at the Academy of Music in Kraków and the Academy of Music in Katowice in his native Poland. 

During his 14-week tenure at SFCM, Dylla will teach lessons, performance classes and a seminar that draws on his in-depth knowledge of repertoire and technique. In addition to sharing his expertise with the department as a whole, Dylla will work individually with students of faculty member Sérgio Assad. Beginning in the 2016-17 academic year, Assad will maintain his spring semester teaching schedule at SFCM while continuing to tour internationally with his brother Odair as the Latin Grammy Award-winning Assad Brothers guitar duo. 

SFCM President David H. Stull says, "Our students will benefit immeasurably from intensive study with Dylla and visiting artists of his caliber each fall, even as they continue to receive long-term mentorship from our faculty of award-winning international performers.” Conservatory Guitar Department Chair David Tanenbaum also welcomed Dylla’s appointment as artist-in-residence. "Marcin is for me at the top of his generation of guitarists; he is musician first and guitarist second. His recital programs always contain substantial works, and he is unafraid of the new and challenging. SFCM and Marcin Dylla will be a great match."