The Ibison Guitar Duo, Chad Ibison (USA) and Janet Grohovac (Canada) have been performing together since 2010 and are based in Austin, Texas. Both hold Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The University of Texas at Austin where they met. Dr. Ibison, originally from Houston, Texas, has won many top prizes in competitions including the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America 2013 and the JoAnn Falletta Concerto Competition in 2014, as well as 1st prizes at the CU International Guitar Festival 2015, Tennessee Guitar Festival and Competition 2013, Boston GuitarFest 2012, Texas Guitar Competition in Dallas 2012, A&M Guitar Symposium 2010, and CSU Guitar Symposium 2009. Dr. Grohovac, from Victoria, Canada, was awarded 1st prizes at the Southern Guitar Competition 2015, and the Northwest Guitar Competition 2009, and was a top prize winner in the Tennessee International Guitar Competition 2015, the Lone Star Guitar Festival and Competition 2015, the Dallas International Guitar Competition 2015, Montreal International Guitar Festival 2014 and the Texas Music Festival “Classical Minds” Competition 2010.
The Ibison Guitar Duo performs in North America and abroad. Recent engagements include sold out shows for the Christ Church Cathedral series in Canada and the UpClose series for ACG in the US, recitals for the Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Taxco, Mexico, Ticino Musica’s concerts in Lugano, Switzerland, and Greater-Houston Guitar Guild concert series. Special appearances include being featured in Austin’s radio stations KMFA and KVRX and an episode of Austin’s Notes In Time. The duo also collaborated as clinicians for Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project in partnership with Austin Classical Guitar.
In addition to performing, the duo is strongly committed to the education of their students. Dr. Ibison was the Teaching Assistant to Professor Adam Holzman at UT-Austin for 5 years and is the Professor of Guitar at Austin Community College. Dr. Grohovac is on faculty as Professor of Guitar at Concordia University Texas. They now manage their own very successful Austin-based guitar studio, Hyde Park Guitar, where the duo teaches close to seventy students a week. The Ibison Guitar Duo performs exclusively on Blackwell Guitars from the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada.
Chad Ibison
American guitarist Dr. Chad Ibison has captivated audiences across North America and abroad through his imaginative musical interpretations and charismatic stage presence. Hailed through critical acclaim, Chad has been described as “very versatile in terms of contrast and range of expression” (Classical Guitar Canada) with “masterful phrasing combined with technical precision” (ClassicalGuitar.org). Composer Gregory Sullivan Isaacs, in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, describes Ibison’s impact as a performer; “Chad gave an incendiary performance. His approach was, at the same time, aggressive and intimate. He melded with the instrument, and the result was brash, expressive and technically secure.” Along with his critical acclaim, Ibison has accumulated ten first place awards among his eighteen top prize wins at international guitar competitions including The Guitar Foundation of America, JoAnn Falletta Concerto Competition and Boston’s New England Conservatory Guitarfest. He participates regularly at guitar festivals as a performer, teacher and judge. Chad resides in Austin and is currently the Assistant Professor at Austin Community College and maintains a private studio in Hyde Park.
Janet Grohovac
Canadian-American classical guitarist, Dr. Janet Grohovac, is a passionate performer and sought after instructor based in Austin, Texas. Janet holds Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Victoria, British Columbia. As a dynamic concert artist, recent performances include appearances at the Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Taxco, Mexico with the Ibison Guitar Duo, and solo concerts for Austin Classical Guitar Society’s Salon and Cactus series, the Central Valley’s Guitarraganza festival in California, and Victoria Conservatory of Music’s Summer Guitar Academy in Canada. Dr. Grohovac has accumulated many top prize awards in competitions including the Southern and Northwest Guitar Competitions as well as international festivals in Montreal, Dallas, and Tennessee. In addition to performing, Janet is an avid professor and directs the guitar program at Concordia University. She also directed the guitar programs as professor at Huston-Tillotson University and Texas Lutheran University and is invited regularly to teach masterclasses and adjudicate competitions at universities and guitar festivals throughout North America.