Kirk Hanser, guitaristAcoustic Guitarist from Saint Louis, MO

Over the past 30 years, Kirk has performed and recorded with a wide range of musical luminaries including renowned opera legends Denyce Graves and Timothy Shew, and Columbia Artist newcomer Chris Tiesi. He has performed with multi Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard and the 2015 Grammy-winning St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Kirk can be heard on recordings with jazz guitar icon Frank Vignola, fingerstyle virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel, and rock legend Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), among many others. He has even performed with the likes of Phyllis Smith, who played Phyllis on T.V.'s "The Office"! He regularly performs in concert throughout the US, Europe, and Japan. Kirk's regular recordings and performances with John McClellan (the Hanser-McClellan Duo) since 1996 have been touted as "an absolute winner in every way" by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and "full of color and a real surprise throughout" by Classical Guitar Magazine (UK). One of his most recent recordings,"La Vida Breve" by the Hanser-McClellan Duo, was called "...passionate, beautiful...guitar playing at its highest order" by Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine (U.S.). Kirk lives in the St. Louis area with his four children. He currently lectures and teaches for several colleges and universities (the HMGD is ensemble-in-residence for Webster University), arranges music for events and publications, and acts as director for both the Childbloom Guitar Program and the St. Louis Academy for Guitar. Locally, Kirk performs regularly as an on-call guitarist with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theater St. Louis, and the Muny Theater, as well as weddings and corporate events.