College’s International Guitar Series Brings Global Artists to Eastside
Oct 10, 2026Bellevue College's International Guitar Series brings internationally recognized musicians to the Carlson Theatre for a season spanning classical guitar, contemporary composition, improvisation, electronics and musical traditions from around the world.
Concert Series Opens Oct. 16
This year, six concerts at Bellevue College will offer very different ways of experiencing the guitar.
Bellevue College’s International Guitar Series brings internationally recognized musicians to the Carlson Theatre for a season spanning classical guitar, contemporary composition, improvisation, electronics and musical traditions from around the world. The series opens Oct. 16 with acclaimed classical guitarist Hao Yang and continues through June.
For audiences, that range means no two concerts will offer quite the same experience. For Bellevue College music students, it creates an opportunity to learn directly from artists with very different approaches to performance, composition and music-making.
That combination of artistic discovery, education and public performance is central to how Naeim Rahmani, Bellevue College guitar faculty and artistic director of the series, has shaped the season.
“I created the series because I wanted our students to encounter different possibilities for what it means to be a musician,” Rahmani said. “There is tremendous value in learning from an extraordinary classical guitarist, but I also want students to work with musicians who improvise, compose, experiment and approach music from different cultural perspectives. At the same time, I want our audiences to experience that range with us.”
Students won’t experience those artists only from their seats in the Carlson Theatre. The six-concert schedule is designed around the academic year so visiting artists can become part of students’ learning. Artists who arrive earlier in a quarter work directly with students through masterclasses and workshops. When a concert falls later in the quarter, students have time to prepare music, rehearse with the visiting artist and ultimately share the stage in public performance.
“Meeting and working with different artists has really opened up my world and helped me feel freer to explore music beyond what I’m used to,” said Nattira Chaiprasit, a Bellevue College guitar student. “Hearing the artists explain their ideas in class helps me appreciate what goes into each piece and changes how I hear it afterward. I especially enjoyed playing with guzheng virtuoso Wu Fei. Rehearsing and performing with these artists has also made me more confident and excited to keep learning from other musicians.”
That sense of discovery extends beyond the students working directly with the visiting artists. The range of musical perspectives that shapes their learning also shapes what audiences encounter throughout the season.
“I’m always impressed by the range of expressions and emotions possible on this one instrument. Each concert is a new discovery,” said Betha Gutsche, a longtime audience member who has attended most of the series’ first three seasons. “I have especially enjoyed the occasional performances by students of the guitar program. They bring creative vitality and freshness that complements the masters they get to study with.”
The goal is to make Bellevue College a gathering place where students, professional musicians and audiences from across the region can encounter one another—bringing new sounds to Bellevue while giving students the opportunity to learn directly from the artists creating them.
The 2026–27 Bellevue College International Guitar Series
The series opens with Hao Yang, an acclaimed Chinese classical guitarist and one of the rising voices of her generation. A winner of the 2024 Koblenz International Guitar Competition, Yang brings remarkable technical command to the stage alongside the expressive possibilities of the classical guitar.
Guitarist and composer Gyan Riley moves freely between classical music, jazz, world music and contemporary composition. His collaborations range from Paul Simon and Zakir Hussain to Bill Frisell, John Zorn and Kronos Quartet, reflecting a musical life that resists easy categories.
French guitarist Judicaël Perroy is an internationally celebrated performer and teacher whose career took off after winning the 1997 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition. His playing brings the refinement and depth of the classical guitar tradition to the series.
Composer Aida Shirazi and composer, improviser and kamancheh performer Niloufar Shiri bring contemporary music into conversation with traditions rooted in Iran. Together, their work moves between acoustic sound, electronics and the distinctive voice of the kamancheh, an Iranian bowed string instrument.
Italian guitarist Aniello Desiderio brings a commanding classical voice shaped by a career on some of the world’s leading concert stages. Known for both virtuosity and expressive intensity, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Berlin Philharmonie.
Paolo Angeli closes the season with his extraordinary 25-string prepared Sardinian guitar, an instrument he has developed over decades. With hammers, movable bridges and other modifications, one musician can sound like an entire ensemble as Angeli moves between Sardinian traditions, improvisation, jazz and experimental music.
Concert Information
All International Guitar Series concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Carlson Theatre at Bellevue College. General admission is $20; admission for Bellevue College faculty and staff is $15; Bellevue College students with ID attend free.
For the complete season schedule, artist information and tickets, visit the Bellevue College International Guitar Series website.