Jack Hancher
Described by Gramophone Magazine as a guitarist with “youthful intensity tempered by sophisticated musical intelligence” and Gendai Guitar Magazine as a “poet and a painter, colouring sounds out of the guitar as if his imagination and the guitar were one”, Jack Hancher is a rising star of the classical guitar. In 2022, he won the prestigious Gold Medal of the Royal Overseas League Competition at London's Wigmore Hall, becoming just the third guitarist to win the award. This was preceded in 2021 by a tour of several European Guitar Festivals as a EuroStrings Artist.
In 2024, Jack released his debut album “The Memory Garden” on the Deux-Elles label to critical acclaim. It was described by BBC Record Review as “clean, clear, well focused and compelling playing” and was selected by MusicWeb International amongst their “Best Recordings of 2024”. The album consists of music by English composers and features two new commissions by Dani Howard and Laura Snowden.
Jack has won a string of awards at various guitar competitions, including First Prize at both the Zagreb Guitar Festival Competition and the Plovdiv GuitArt Festival Competition and in 2021, he was awarded Second Prize at the Altamira International Guitar Competition. In 2018, Jack performed at Wigmore Hall, London, playing his arrangements of Albeniz’s piano music and in 2017, he was accepted onto the International Guitar Foundation Young Artists Platform, performing at Kings Place, London in October that year.
Jack has performed across Europe including with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Christian Karlsen, and has performed live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune. 2025 sees Jack’s first concerts and masterclasses in America.
Jack has given Masterclasses at Conservatoires around Europe, including at the Royal College of Music, London and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.
Jack is an Augustine Strings Artist.
Alberta Khoury
Alberta Khoury from Sydney Australia, began studying classical guitar at the age of four. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The Juilliard School, the first guitarist to have been accepted into the program.
Known for vivid collaborations with musicians, actors and dancers, Alberta is a Juilliard Student Ambassador, deeply committed to bringing music to the community wherever she is.
She performed at City Center in 2021 in the Fall for Dance Festival. Her performance of “Fandango” with NYC Ballet Dancer Roman Mejia, Brooklyn Rider String Quartet and Dario Natarelli (castanets) was described by the NY Times as “a seven-minute tour de force.”
Alberta is the first guitarist to have been awarded the William Schuman prize for distinguished musicianship and leadership in the Juilliard School as well as the prestigious Kovner Fellowship.
Alberta has been heard at The Met Cloisters, WQXR Greene Space, Krannert Center, The Kennedy Center, Vail Dance Festival and New York Comic Con.
Alberta was also a featured artist at The Queen Sofía Awards for Excellence graced by the guitar-loving Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain at the Metropolitan Club in 2019 and at the University Club in 2022.
Alberta is a recipient of the C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellowship.