Janet Noguera

AT 19, JANET NOGUERA WON THE INTERNATIONAL LOWDEN YOUNG GUITARIST OF THE YEAR COMPETITION. FOR PERFORMERS AND COMPOSERS UNDER 25.

As the winner of Lowden's Young Guitarist of the Year competition, Janet traveled to Lowdens Northern Ireland workshop to pick out a guitar (choosing a Richard Thompson signature model) and performed alongside Lowden signature artists, Jon Gomm and Thomas Leeb, at the Lowden 40th Anniversary Concert. Also at 19, she was featured in the Acoustic Guitar Magazine May 2014 issue, as one of the "30 Great Acoustic Guitarists under the age of 30."

Noguera studied classical guitar performance with Bill Coulter at the University of California, Santa Cruz. There, she also received masterclasses with classical guitarists, Andrew York, Benjamin Verderi, and Grisha Goryachev. Janet has also studied with acclaimed fingerstyle players such as Alex de Grassi and Thomas Leeb at their summer workshops. In 2015, she was a recipient of the Plantronics Creativity & Innovation Scholars Award 2015 (presented annually by the UCSC Arts Division,) and in 2017, she was awarded both the UCSC Chancellor’s Award and the Dean’s Award for her Senior Recital and composition project for the UCSC Guitar Ensemble, "Endless Journey."

Later in 2017, she won the international Fretmonkey Guitar Solo Contest, an online contest organized by Fretmonkey Records, a record label of Progressive Fingerstyle guitar.

​Janet has opened shows for players like Andy McKee, Andrew York, and Laurance Juber. She recently shared the stage with the Women of Fingerstyle Guitar in Anaheim CA at the House of Blues, with players such as Kaki King, Vicky Genfan, Muriel Anderson, Christie Lenee, and others. She is actively performing and participating in acoustic guitar festivals in USA, Mexico, and Europe, and collaborating with other notable players. She also collaborated with music companies such as Elite Acoustics, Lowden Guitars, Baton Rouge Guitars, etc. at the NAMM show in Anaheim CA and at the Musikmesse in Germany. She currently performs and teaches around Northern California.

With a love of all things music, performance and entertainment, Janet Noguera seeks to continually develop, create, and share her musical artistry with the world.