This year’s Guitar Foundation of America festival and International Concert Artist Competition was held in the lovely city of Louisville, Kentucky and hosted by the University of Louisville School of Music and Dr. Stephen Mattingly.The GFA, now close to its fortieth year in existence, presented an awe-inspiring week of concerts, lectures, classes, and of course, one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. It was a joy to meet so many people dedicated to furthering our art form, so many excellent performers, scholars, and teachers, not to mention partaking in the excellent after-concert hangs sampling bourbon at Dish on Market!Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is simply too much information to share in the span of a single All Strings Considered episode, and so this will be the first of a two-part series. This episode focuses on the past, present, and future of the Guitar Foundation, as well as a few special moments paying tribute to another forty-year legacy: Bruce Holzman’s incredibly influential career in teaching. Finally, All Strings Considered has been given a special dispensation to play you some live excerpts from the competition finals – you’ll hear select pieces from Chad Ibison (bronze), Artyom Dervoed (silver), and Anton Baranov (gold).