The Shenandoah Conservatory guitar studio welcomed professor Alex Komodore from Metropolitan State University of Denver for a masterclass, lessons, and conversation earlier this month. Komodore guided students on music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Luise Walker, Andrew York and Heitor Villa-Lobos, and discussed his background as a performing musician and university faculty member since 1985.

About Alex Komodore

Alex Komodore is a Denver-based classical guitarist and full professor of music at Metropolitan State University of Denver. This June, Komodore will host the largest guitar festival in the United States, the Guitar Foundation of America Convention (GFA), and three International competitions to be held at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he has directed the guitar department for more than 40 years.

Komodore began his studies of the classical guitar at the age of 8 in his native New York City, performing in New York City’s Town Hall at the age of 11 and atThe United Nations at age 19. He also won first prize in the 1985 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Collegiate Artist Competition. His win garnered a full solo recital on PBS Television’s “Debut Series” at the age of 25. A tireless and dedicated teacher of all ages and abilities, he has been a university professor for more than 45 years since his first teaching appointment at New York University at the age of 21. Recent performances and teaching assignments have taken him across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Scotland, France, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and the Dominican Republic. In Spring 2026, he is teaching masterclasses at many prominent universities, conservatories and guitar societies across the United States.

Several of Komodore’s students have recently won top prizes in many prominent international guitar competitions, including The Guitar Foundation of America Youth competitions, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, Philadelphia and Louisville guitar competitions, the Koblenz International Guitar Festival, and most recently, the Francisco Tarrega Competition. Komodore has also judged in many guitar festivals and competitions, including the Portland International Guitar Competition, the Denver International Guitar Competition, the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival and the Guitar Foundation of America International Guitar Competitions.

An extremely versatile and curious musician, he has performed extensively with classical, steel string, electric and Hawaiian slide guitars, as well as on theorbo, mandolin and tenor banjo, as a soloist with many of the finest orchestras, opera companies and chamber groups across the United States. His discography includes recordings on 16 CDs, including the prestigious Delos and Folk Era labels. His 1989 CD “Redstone” with flutist Rod Garnett earned the coveted Best of Westword best classical recording of 1990. His 1994 solo CD debut recording “Passport” won praise from several of the world’s most prominent guitarists, including David Russell, Christopher Parkening and Sharon Isbin.