About Ex-Aequo

Ex-Aequo (a Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit) was founded in late 2019 with a few simple ideas on how we’d like to shape the world of classical guitar as we were connected with many guitarists who were leaders of the “next generation” of artists.

This meant fostering collaboration amongst artists, improving elements of the traditional classical guitar culture, and developing an audience, all of which were a common subject of discussion amongst the three founders of Ex-Aequo: Evan Taucher, Hannah Murphy and Phil Goldenberg.

Ex-Aequo’s first project was born out of necessity in March of 2020 - creating the first online guitar festival of the pandemic. We hosted a 4 day festival filled with online masterclasses, concerts, and meet-and-greets. It was well received with thousands in attendance, as most of the world was cooped up inside their homes.

The following month - April 2020, when artists around the world had been stuck inside for nearly a month, Ex-Aequo launched what quickly became the largest guitar competition - 145+ entries in a single division. Augustine Strings, BAM Cases, and Altamira Guitars each sponsored prizes for the competition. Instead of ranking the finalists, we had the idea to award four equal winners who would share the prize pool, including a shared concert.

In 2021, we launched out Changing the Canon project in wake of several societal events in the United States. We commissioned nine Black American composers (an extremely underrepresented in the classical guitar repertoire) to write pieces for nine of our Ex-Aequo Artist Collaborators. This was generously funded by the Augustine Foundation, and the project culminated in a captivating visual album filmed in Austin, TX by Matthew Anderson, and nine new incredible concert pieces that are enjoyed by guitarists today.

In 2023, we dreamed up an alternative to competitions for emerging artists on the scene, while simultaneously creating a more enriching and wholesome experience for local and online communities as a whole. A drawback of traditional competitions is that there is a lot of lost value. Many talented players typically accumulate in a school of music for a 5 minute spot on stage, then go back home to their hotels, providing little value to the community, and without collaborating with one another. For our Emerging Artists Residency, we opened up applications, and subsequently invited 6 of the most promising young guitarists from around the world to perform, record, and connect with audiences in Austin, Texas, funded by the Augustine Foundation. This resulted in a sold-out show at Austin Classical Guitar’s “Rosette”, career mentorship workshops, and a brand new piece and its premiere written for us by acclaimed guitarist and composer Sergio Assad, titled “Six by Six”, as well as a visual album filmed by renowned guitarist and producer Drew Henderson, and the promise of a 2024 edition.

In 2024, we are working on the latest Ex-Aequo Artist Residency in Austin, TX, as well as a few other projects which we will be announcing soon. We are happy to have Izzy Fincher, a long time collaborator with Ex-Aequo, joinining the team and working on our media and serving as Secretary.

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