The Mid-America Guitar Ensemble Festival is an annual event consisting of concerts, masterclasses, and workshops featuring top ensembles from schools around the Midwest and beyond. The festival was established in 1991 in an effort to foster camaraderie and pedagogical exchanges between classical guitar teachers and students, to provide performance and learning opportunities for student ensembles,
and to contribute to the over-all artistic and cultural enrichment of its audiences. The Festival has also worked to increase the ensemble repertoire through the commissioning of new works for the festival orchestra. The first festival took place at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and has since been held in schools in Illinois and surrounding states, such as Bradley University, Elmhurst College, Valparaiso University, Indiana University/Purdue University at Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids Community College, Illinois State University, Northwestern University, Roosevelt University, and Webster University.
