The T.U.S.D. Guitar Festival is back and better than ever! Held on March 4th, 2025, this is the 2nd Annual Guitar Festival hosted at Sahuaro, organized by Phil Hemmo, guitar teacher. This festival takes a year to prepare, so as soon as last year’s ended, Hemmo was already working to make it larger and better. Eleven different middle and high schools were present, with 290 kids total in attendance.

The day started with students checking in outside of the Fine Arts building between 8:30-9:00 AM. Afterward, students were led into the auditorium from 9:00-9:25 AM to be instructed of their day’s schedule. Schools were then sent off to either the dance room, the basement, the library, or kept in the auditorium. All those rooms held a technique workshop from 9:30-10:05 AM.

During the most individualized part of the day, ensembles received personalized lessons on their pieces from professors such as Chuck Hulihan, Tom Patterson, Martha Masters, Bokyung Byun, and Dr. Jose Luis Puerta. People competing in the Solo Classical Guitar Competition had private lessons with these professors separately for their competition performance pieces. Finally, what every kid was waiting for… lunch! Once again, Dominos catered free pizza and water for everyone in attendance.

The Solo Classical Guitar Competition was held in Mr. Hemmos’s guitar room. 26 high schoolers participated, with 2 of our own placing in the top 3. Each student performed a classical guitar piece for 3 judges. They were judged on technique, musicality, and the overall presentation. Each student also received their score sheets the following day. The prizes for 1st-3rd place were a Kremona guitar with case and strings valued at $1,000, a Yamaha guitar with case and strings valued at 500$, and lastly another Yamaha guitar valued at 250$.

After lunch, all schools were to report back to the Fine Arts auditorium for a festival-wide rehearsal of a piece titled Sakura, written by Laurent Meneret. After rehearsing from 1:00-2:00 PM, schools then had a chance to practice their own prepared pieces from 2:00-3:00 PM.

After school, all students were asked to report back to Sahuaro at 5:00 PM, with doors opening for guests at 5:25 PM. The moment everyone was waiting for, the concert officially kicked off at 6:00 PM. Each school performed between 1-3 songs. Alice Vail Middle School opened, followed by Gridley Middle School, Casa Grande Union High School, Catalina Foothills High School, Sahuaro High School Intermediate Guitar, La Cima Middle School, Sahuaro High School Dual Credit Guitar, Academy of Tucson High School, Amphi High School, and lastly, Sahuaro High School Advanced Guitar.

Following performances, the winners of the Solo Classical Guitar Competition were announced. Third place went to Sawyer Goitia from Sahuaro High School, 2nd place went to Elijah Kamp from Sahuaro High School, and 1st place was awarded to Daniel Lizarraga from Catalina Foothills High School. A huge congratulations to our winners, we’re so proud of your exceptional representation of our school!

A special shout out to the TUSD governing board, Dr. Gabriel Trujillo, Dr. Joan Ashcraft, and Principal Estrella for making the festival a possibility, and Mr. Hemmo for putting every piece of it together! Last but not least, a big thank you to the sponsors: Kremona Guitars, Southwest Strings, RC Strings, and Crossrock Cases.