Dr. Kami Rowan, director
Badi Assad, guest artist

The US Guitar Orchestra (USGO) was created in 2018. After a competitive audition process with players from across the United States, members of the USGO were carefully chosen from a group of elite classical guitarists. The USGO brings together a diverse range of players residing in multiple states and ranging in age from 15-65. The USGO performs works by US composers including commissioned world premieres. The USGO has toured NYC, France, Spain and is headed to Portugal in the summer of 2025. Its mission is to promote artistic excellence in classical guitar orchestra, ensemble, and chamber music. The USGO is also committed to promoting the guitar beyond tradition through new works and commissions that blur boundaries of genre with the aim of the guitar being more integrated into the world musical community and more celebrated. To date the orchestra has premiered five new commissions with three currently underway for the 2025 tour.

Dr. Kami Rowan, Charles A. Dana Professor of Music, teaches at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. She completed her DMA and MM at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University under the tutelage of Dr. Glenn Caluda. She studied with the renowned Aaron Shearer, at UNCSA, where she received her BM. Dr. Rowan received her NC-A Teaching Certificate from the UNC Greensboro and taught for the Guilford County public schools for six years, having created and implemented a complete guitar curriculum for the high school level. Dr. Rowan is currently on the board of directors of The Guitar Foundation of America, The Aaron Shearer Foundation, and is the current president of the Piedmont Classic Guitar Society. Additionally, she has enjoyed being a clinician and adjudicator for many guitar festivals and competitions in the US. Dr. Rowan co-founded and is the Director of the US Guitar Orchestra, which launched in Carnegie Hall. Her work in the ensemble field has produced several commissions and world premieres of pieces by world renowned composers.