Guitarist and composer, Mesut Özgen, who graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in guitar performance, was recognized as one of the Knight Arts Challenge award winners at the Knight Foundation's ninth annual celebration at the New World Center in Miami Beach on November 28, 2016. Özgen founded the Miami International GuitART Festival at the Florida International University School of Music, where he is the director of guitar studies, in February 2016.
After the success of MIGF in its first year, Özgen will be awarded a $55,000 grant from Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, to honor Miami's Cuban heritage by dedicating the Miami International GuitART Festival to Cuban music and creating cultural exchanges between Havana and Miami guitar orchestras. In addition to the Knight Arts Challenge, Özgen and the MIGF have also been awarded an Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
More Arts, humanities and education
Learning by stepping outside
By Adriana MaestasAmid a world increasingly captivated by all things digital, more than 200 Arizona teachers have crafted…
Behind the curtain: Discovering careers in the arts at ASU Gammage
For a group of students from Sunnyslope High School, Eastmark High School and AZ Teen Homeschool Co-op, a recent December day at…
Honoring a legacy of cultural education, exploration
Belle Edson has inspired countless students to expand their horizons during her 26-year tenure at Arizona State University. A…