Welcome to the official website of Lily Afshar. 

Lily Afshar is like a breath of fresh air in the world of classical guitar.  Lily’s collaborations with international composers have resulted in premieres of new works by renowned international composers. She has performed at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, Banff School of Fine Arts, the Menton Music Festival in the South of France, the American Academy in Rome, and Salle Cortot in Paris. Lily Afshar has five recordings to her credit which have attracted international critical acclaim.  Her first recording "24 Caprichos de Goya, Op. 195" was released in 1994 and her second “A Jug of Wine and Thou” in 1999.  Her third and fourth recordings “Possession” (2002) and “Hemispheres” (2006) feature a combined total of eight world premieres. Her fifth recording "One Thousand and One Nights" was released in Iran in 2013 and features two world premiers as well as her own arrangements of Persian and Azerbaijani Ballads. At her Wigmore Hall Concert in London, England’s Musical Opinion Magazine praised Lily for her “fresh sense of programming” and “her ability to draw listeners onto the edge of their seats...”

Lily Afshar's grandparents were born north of Iran in Azerbaijan and later moved to Tehran where Lily was born.  She was 10 years old when she began learning the guitar. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music degree in guitar performance from The Boston Conservatory and the New England Conservatory of Music. At Florida State University, Lily became the first woman in the world to gain a Doctorate of Music in guitar performance. She has studied at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts and the Aspen Music Festival. She received Diplomas of Merit from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. She was selected to play for Maestro Andrés Segovia in his master classes held at the University of Southern California.

Lily was honored with the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Boston Conservatory, and the 2000 Orville H. Gibson Award for Best Female Classical Guitarist in Los Angeles. Her other awards include the Top Prize in the Guitar Foundation of America Competition and Grand Prize in the Aspen Music Festival Guitar Competition, among others. She received the Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship Award in Music and an NEA Recording Award.  She is a three-time winner of the Annual "Premier Guitarist" awards given by the Memphis Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and she was chosen as "Artistic Ambassador" for the United States Information Agency to Africa.

 
Lily is head of the University of Memphis guitar program where she received the 2000 Board of Visitors Eminent Faculty Award, and the 2008 Alumni Association Distinguished Teaching Award.  Lily regularly conducts guitar master classes in conjunction with her touring. Her book  "Five Popular Persian Ballads" is published by Mel Bay Editions, which also produced her 2008 DVD entitled "Virtuoso Guitar" featuring live performances and an interview with Lily. Her  instructional DVDs "Classical Guitar Secrets Vol I & II" are released with Guitarcontrol.com. Her recent book "Essential Bach Arranged for the Guitar by Lily Afshar" is published by Mel Bay Publications.