PirateQ 
Leonela Alejandro to conduct a free master class and perform in concert this weekend
The Pensacola State College Guitar Association will present classical guitarist Leonela Alejandro for a free master class at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, and a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, in the Ashmore Fine Arts Center on the PSC Pensacola campus.
Grand Prize winner in the 2024 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition, Alejandro formally began her musical education at age 7. At just 16, she was accepted into the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, where she studied with world-renowned performer Maestro Iván Rijos. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and her graduate studies at Columbus State University.
She has placed first in many U.S. competitions, including the Louisville Guitar Festival, Appalachian State Guitar Festival, Columbus State University Guitar Symposium, Indiana Guitar Festival and Chicago Guitar Festival, and has received prizes as an international competitor from Le Domaine Forget de Charlevoix Guitar Competition in Canada, Ciudad de Coria International Guitar Competition in Spain, and the Iserlohn International Guitar Competition in Germany.
Friday’s free master class is open to the public and will be held in Room 850, Building 8, on the Pensacola campus. Email jstallings@pensacolastate.edu to register.
Alejandro will also be adjudicating the Pensacola State College 2026 Finger Style Acoustic Guitar Competition, which occurs at 10 a.m. on Saturday with 12 participants. The prize winners will be announced during the Leonela Alejandro guitar concert that evening.
“The Guitar Foundation of America’s International Concert Artist Competition is the most prestigious classical guitar competition in the world,” said PSC Performing Arts Professor Joe Stallings, founder and director of the college’s guitar program. “Guitarists from all over the world come to compete in this annual competition. One of prizes that the winner receives is a 50-concert tour of North America, which can be a career making tour. Pensacola State College has been one of those 50 concerts since 1988.”
“If you want to see one of the finest guitarists in world, don’t miss Leonela Alejandro’s performance on Saturday night.”
Tickets for the Saturday night performance are $11, or less with applicable discounts, and can be bought at the PSC Lyceum box office in the Ashmore Fine Arts Center (Room 861, Building 8) or online at performingarts.pensacolastate.edu/events. PSC students are admitted for free.