Sacramento Guitar Society

ive Team know what is working and areas we need to improve. Profanity will be removed. Enjoy our page as it grows and develops! Sacramento Guitar Society is a non-profit educational and service organization that has existed in one form or another since at least 1961. In addition to community concerts such as Music At Noon at Westminster Presbyterian Church, SGS produces a concert series with great international touring artists at the Harris Center, holds monthly meeting at CSUS, hosts rehearsals of the Sacramento Guitar Orchestra, and brings teaching artists to schools in the Greater Sacramento Region. During the decades from 1961 to 2008, SGS was led by guitar enthusiasts hosting events at homes and schools. In 2008 Daniel Roest provided new experience from developing San Jose’s South Bay Guitar Society – one of the largest in the country. He built a database of all guitar teachers in the county to establish a network of support. In 2009 a strong, service-based Mission Statement was developed with a Board of Directors and a dozen Founding Members pledging support. 2010 was a banner year with SGS hosting the West Coast Guitar Societies Roundtable, producing several concerts and securing 501(c)3 nonprofit status. In 2011 SGS was one of only two partner organizations to kick off the concert season at Three Stages at Folsom Lake College, selling out a series of very successful shows, complete with encores and standing ovations. Our strategy to begin the concert series was simple: we were unknown and needed to get our “brand” out to the public. Modest donations began to come in and membership rose quickly—during a recession! From this beginning, SGS began important programs to carry out our Mission to “provide education and performance opportunities to people of diverse cultures, ages, abilities, and economic means.” Our School Outreach Program reached over 2,000 students last year, and we’ll reach over 3,000 by May 2014. There are many more students who deserve to hear live classical guitar at their school. The Community Concerts Program includes visits to senior centers and has brought classical guitar concerts closer to the people in outlying areas. With a population of over 2 million and based around the State Capitol, the greater Sacramento region deserves the highest quality of fine arts. Now one does not need drive to San Francisco to see world class classical guitarists. Now these same artists from around the world fly to Sacramento to concertize and visit schools. SGS is the only organization doing this. Additional SGS history is available under Programs on our website.