Venezuelan composer, arranger and not-so-classical guitarist Andres Guerra is a New York City-based concert artist who aims to break down the stigmas of classical music and bring his multi-faceted musical and artistic influences forth to shed a new light on the classical guitar. He has shared the stage and collaborated with a wide variety of artists, some of the caliber of Grammy-winning Carlos Vives, Erika Ender (songwriter of “Despacito”), Chucho Valdés, 8th Blackbird, Aída Cuevas, Berta Rojas, Paquito d’ Rivera and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. Andres also placed 4th on the 2023 Twisted Spruce Guitar Competition and was the only guitarist to place as a semi-finalist in the 2023 George and Elizabeth Gregory Concerto Competition.

 

Blending the rich tradition of the classical guitar's repertoire and technique with improvisation and contemporary guitar styles, he offers a wide variety of musical colors in his solo performances; with a palette sounds coming from Jazz, contemporary classical, Latin American Folk and even pop.

 

Andres graduated with a summa cum laude, dual Bachelor’s Degree in Film Scoring and Performance from the prestigious Berklee College Of Music where he studied with the world-renowned concert artist Berta Rojas. He was awarded a Tuition Scholarship by the institution itself, as well as a Gifted Tuition Scholarship by the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation. He also was awarded the William Leavitt Achievement Award by the Guitar department at Berklee, one of the most prestigious awards the institution offers its students since its based on anonymous nominations. 

 

With the help of another Latin Grammy Scholarship as well as a generous scholarship by the institution itself, Andres is currently enrolled at Mannes School of Music at The New School in New York where he is a candidate for the Master’s of Music in Classical Guitar Performance under the study of Michael Newman and Joao Luiz Rezende Lopes, from the groundbreaking Brasil Guitar Duo.

 

Andres has also played in master classes for guitar luminaries such as David Russell, Shin-ichi Fukuda, Eduardo Martin, Dale Kavanagh and Elena Papandreou. Back in his home country, Venezuela, he Studied for 3 years at the Conservatorio de Música Simon Bolivar in Caracas under the tutelage of maestro Amilcar Gonzalez and Cesar Rico as well.

Andres plays on a custom made, 2021 Zebulon Turrentine Guitar.