FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 15, 2019
Guitarists Ernesto Bitetti (left) and Sérgio Assad (right) will be teaching artists-in-residence at the IU Jacobs School of Music in fall 2020 and spring 2021, respectively.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Students at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music will soon enjoy an added dimension to its guitar department. A different teaching artist-in-residence, from among the greatest performing guitarists in the world, will join full-time faculty Petar Jankovic and Daniel Duarte each semester, beginning in fall 2020.
Ernesto Bitetti, current chair and founder of the Jacobs School of Music Guitar Department, in 1989, will inaugurate the expanded offerings after his retirement in May.
“Thirty years after establishing the Guitar Department at the Jacobs School of Music, I am very pleased to know that the legacy will continue after my retirement through the innovative leadership of Petar Jankovic and Daniel Duarte,” said Bitteti.
World-renowned guitarist, composer and arranger Sérgio Assad will join the faculty as teaching artist-in-residence in spring 2021. Assad has created a new standard for guitar performance with his brother, Odair, as the Brazilian-born Assad Brothers guitar duo.
The artists-in-residence will work with students through both private lessons and group master classes for a month, greatly enhancing the department’s undergraduate and graduate curricula.
“Our students will benefit immensely from this residence program, as every semester, our students will now experience a month-long teaching artist residency in addition to their regular 15 private weekly lessons and participation in a weekly performance/master class with our resident faculty,” Jankovic said.
“This is going to be a great experience,” said Assad. “I had promised myself that I was going to stop teaching after I left San Francisco, but I’m so close to Bloomington now that I live in Chicago, and working with the students and faculty at the Jacobs School of Music has been very rewarding.”
The IU Jacobs School of Music Guitar Department is committed to nurturing each student, helping the student to grow and learn in a healthy atmosphere.
In addition to lessons and master classes, the department offers major guitar ensemble experience, chamber music coaching and classes in repertoire, pedagogy, arranging and transcription.
Offering more than 1,100 performances annually, including five operas, one musical and three ballets, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music plays a leading role in educating musicians, dancers, scholars, composers, music educators and audio engineers around the globe. Its 175 full-time faculty members include experts of international renown.
MEDIA CONTACT
Linda Cajigas
Assistant Director of Communications
IU Jacobs School of Music
812-856-3882 | lcajigas@indiana.edu