The Stetson University School of Music will host the Stetson Guitar Workshop, a community guitar workshop featuring award-winning guitarist and composer Joseph Shields, along with Stetson faculty member Orlando Roman, DMA. The annual springtime event is a hands-on workshop tailored for the local community of guitar teachers and students, as well as anyone else interested in earning a living by playing the guitar.

The interactive workshop takes place on Saturday, April 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., in Presser Hall on campus. The event is $35, and each participant must register online and bring their own instruments.

‘Great Opportunity for Players to Improve’

“Students get to pick the guest artist’s brain for two hours,” said Roman ’94, professor of Guitar. “Then students can play for the guest artist and receive a critique. It’s a great opportunity for players to improve their performance and for those who want to see how other professionals make it work.”

Shields, also a 1994 alumnus, has performed on stages across the United States, including appearances in Los Angeles, New York City and at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia. He has been featured at festivals and concert series, such as Guitar Sarasota, the Long Island Guitar Festival, the Macon Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Stetson International Guitar Workshop.

A dedicated advocate for contemporary music, Shields has premiered numerous works for guitar. Among them are U.S. and world premieres by composers Lois Vierk and Adam Silverman. French guitarist and composer Roland Dyens described him as “a very refined and sensitive musician.”

“We try to get alumni who are working professionals in the field,” explained Roman about the workshop. “Joe’s nickname is ‘the Oracle’ because he has the pulse of what it means to be a working musician.”

Roman hopes to grow the Stetson guitar program through its successful working alumni. Current students will see “if they can do it, I can do it.”

“I tell my students that the most famous musicians are the lucky ones, not the best ones,” he said. “I can name 10 world-class guitar players you have never even heard of.”

Shields is the recipient of the Eliot Fisk Prize from Yale University, awarded “to an outstanding guitarist,” and First Prize in the Belle and Lynum Jackson Competition at Marshall University. He currently serves as the music director at Faith Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, and as the artistic director of the Vera & Imre Hecht Emerging Artists Concert Series for Guitar Sarasota.

“Last year, we had around 50 people attending our Guitar Workshop, and one was close to 80 years old,” Roman noted with a smile. “If you love the guitar, I guarantee that you’re going to be a better guitarist when you leave our workshop.”

-Renee Garrison