It was founded by Eli Kassner[1] and was the subject of Guitar, a 1988 film from Rhombus Media.
[2] The festival grew out of discussions Kassner had with members of the Guitar Society of Toronto.
Performers included Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Leo Brouwer, Oscar Ghiglia, Alirio Diaz, and the duo of Ako Ito and Henry Dorigny.
The festival's competition winners were Sharon Isbin, Manuel Barrueco, David Leisner, and Eliot Fisk.
[3] Major guitar works premiered at the festival included R. Murray Schafer's Le Cri de Merlin[1] and Leo Brouwer's Toronto Concerto, the latter with John Williams as soloist and Brouwer himself conducting.