Virtuoso guitarist and composer Mesut Özgen has long been a strong advocate of new music for guitar. A spectacular performer, his eclectic repertoire is rooted predominantly in traditional and folk music of the world, combining avant-garde compositional techniques with traditional tunes and rhythms. His own compositions are mainly based on or influenced by traditional Turkish music, as heard on his solo CD, Troubador (Golden Horn).

Mesut Özgen began teaching himself guitar in 1981 while in medical school, and by 1993 he had become the first guitarist to win the Dean's Prize at the Yale University School of Music. Widely known for creating unconventional contexts for classical guitar performances, he has been the director of the multimedia concert project "New Dimensions in Classical Guitar" since 2002, collaborating with a multidisciplinary artistic team from the film and digital media, theatre, and music departments at the Arts Division of University of California Santa Cruz. The resulting multimedia concerts were released on DVD in 2007. Another of his projects, "Pick and Roll," features a basketball player in dialogue with a guitar ensemble.

We can't wait to see what tonight will bring!