Eli Kassner

Eli Kassner
(photo: Milan Chvostek)

Eli Kassner (born 27 May 1924 Vienna, Austria) is a Canadian guitar teacher and musician.

Eli Kassner studied guitar in Vienna and Israel before moving to Canada in 1951. He also studied in the United States, Palestina, and in Spain, under the great virtuoso classical guitarist, Andrés Segovia. He performed until 1967.

In 1956, he founded the Guitar Society of Toronto. He was its president from 1960 to 1966 and artistic director from 1970 to 2008. In 1967, he established the Eli Kassner Guitar Academy.

He established the guitar program at the University of Toronto and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (RCMT) in 1959 and started the University of Toronto Guitar Ensemble in 1978.

In the 1970s, Kassner became interested in microphotography, and worked as a composer and performer for the CBC Television series The Lively Arts and The Nature of Things.

Eli Kassner was awarded an honorary doctorate from Carleton University and was also inducted into the Guitar Foundation of America’s Hall of Fame. In 2009, the Guitar Society of Toronto, honored Eli Kassner with a lifetime 'Artistic Director Emeritus' appointment.

Notable students

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• Atom Egoyan
• Yuan Dian
• Jesse Cook
• Brian Katz
• Robert Bauer
• Liona Boyd
• Annabelle Chvostek
• Lynne Gangbar
• Davis Joachim
• Norbert Kraft
• Alan Torok
• Gordon O'Brien
• Andy Krehm
• Carlos Lopes
• Karen Agro
• Timothy Phelan
• Rob Piltch
• James Lowrie
• Patrick Power
• K. Brett Shea
• Christian Szczesniak
• Douglas Hibovski
• Sergei de Jonge

Bibliography

• Smith, Harold. 'Eli Kassner: a biography,' Guitar Canada, vol 2, Spring 1989
• Levy, Harold. 'The road to respect,' ibid
• Blackadar, Bruce. 'Ovation for a guitar master,' Toronto Star, 20 May 1989