Izzy Fincher is a classical guitarist based in Boulder, Colorado. Through her lyricism and passion for musical diversity, Izzy is establishing herself as a versatile performer of underrepresented, contemporary and traditional repertoire.

In 2023, Izzy received the Outstanding Graduating Senior Award from the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Music. Other awards include the Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation’s Gerke Collegiate Award and the Presser Foundation’s Undergraduate Scholar Award. She won first prize in the Mu Phi Epsilon Denver Alumni Chapter’s Scholarship Competition in 2023.

Izzy is an active performer in the Southwest region, recently appearing for the Boulder Guitar Society, the Colorado Guitar Festival and the University of North Texas’ Spectrum concert series. She has performed Francisco J. Nuñez’s “Four Spanish Lullabies” with the ASTER Women’s Chamber Choir and Maya Le Roux Obradovic’s “Concerto Latino.”

Izzy recently recorded several arrangements of George Lynn’s chamber works with Denver-based flutist Kassandra Lopez for the American Music Research Center’s George Lynn Memorial Award. She has premiered new commissions by Marcel Castro-Lima and Alex Tedrow for the Twisted Spruce Music Foundation’s annual symposium.

Izzy’s primary instructors include René Izquierdo, Adam Holzman and Nicolò Spera. She has performed in masterclasses for LAGQ, Marco Tamayo, Paul Galbraith, Antigoni Goni, Gohar Vardanyan and Marc Teicholz. Other mentors include Lorenzo Micheli and Matteo Mela from Solo Duo. She is an alumni of the Aspen Music Festival and School (’22 and ’23), where studied with Sharon Isbin.

Izzy graduated summa cum laude with a B.M. in classical guitar performance, a business minor and certificates in music entrepreneurship and music theory from CU Boulder. In the fall of 2023, she will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to pursue a master’s degree in classical guitar performance under René Izquierdo.

Izzy plays on a guitar made by American luthier Steven Walter.

Izzy also works as a freelance writer. She holds a B.A. in journalism from CU Boulder and was named the College of Media, Communication and Information’s William W. White Outstanding Graduate in 2023. She has been published in the Guitar Foundation of America’s Soundboard magazine; the CU Independent, CU Boulder’s award-winning student newspaper; and Sharps & Flatirons, Boulder’s leading classical music blog.

Her honors thesis, “An examination of mainstream media’s treatment of female guitarists,” will be featured at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and the International Communication Association Conference in 2023. 

In her free time, Izzy teaches yoga, listens to audiobooks and spends time with her bunny Suki and two labradoodles, Ash and Suzannah.