Lily Afshar

Born in Tehran, Iran on March 9, 1960, Lily Afshar was an award-winning contemporary classical guitarist. Referred to as ‘one of the world’s foremost classical guitarists,’ she was the only classical guitarist in the world who blended formal training in the US and Europe with the rich cultural heritage of music from her home country. Her musical journey began in 1977, when she moved to the US and studied guitar at the Boston Conservatory of Music, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She attended Florida State University and, in 1989, became the first woman in the world so earn a doctorate in classical guitar. Continuing her education, she also spent time studying at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts (Alberta, Canada) and took advanced training at Gargnano, Italy and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. Lily Afshar also took master classes with legendary guitarist Andrés Segovia at the University of Southern California. She has won many awards in her career including a top prize in the Guitar Foundation of America Competition, the Grand Prize from the Aspen Music Festival Guitar Competition, the Orville H. Gibson Award for Best Female Classical Guitarist, and others. Her catalog features many acclaimed titles including 24 Caprichos de Goya (1995), Possession (2002), Hemispheres (2006), Musica de Camera (2013) and Bach on Fire (2014). Lily Afshar was also a teacher and released several popular instructional DVDs. She died from cancer in Tutkabon, Mazandaran, Iran on October 24, 2023, at the age of 63.

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