George A. Little’s first pursuits in music came in High School as he picked up the guitar as a folk instrument. Throughout High School he played popular music styles like folk and rock and wrote his own songs. At the end of High School, he independently released a full length CD with 9 original songs. On occasion, George continues to perform and write songs.

            At UMass Dartmouth, George was inspired by William Riley to study classical guitar technique and literature. William Riley, the revered student of Eliot Fisk, guided George for five years while George earned his Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Music with a special focus in Guitar Performance. In addition to solo guitar study, George studied composition for two years with Dr. Timothy Melbinger and chamber music performance with Paul Cienniwa. His studies at UMass also allowed him to explore jazz for two years in the Brazilian Jazz Ensemble, directed by Todd Baker.

            During his years at UMass, George performed as a soloist and in chamber ensembles to enthusiastic audiences in the New Bedford, MA area, Newport, RI and Providence, RI. His performances include a special guest soloist appearance with the Providence College Early Music Ensemble, directed by Audrey Cienniwa.

George was awarded the Lillian B. Lamaroux Music Scholarship from the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra in 2003 and he recieved the UMass Dartmouth Book Award, twice, for excellence in music performance. He was also the first music student to be awarded the Emil “Smokey” Ameen Scholarship for excellence in Art.

He is currently attending Longy School of Music in the Master’s Degree program for Strings Performance. At Longy he is studying with New World Guitar Trio founder David Patterson and is embarking upon a major transcription effort of Schubert art songs with plans to publish an edition of guitar accompaniments. He is also involved with various solo and ensemble projects including the newly formed flute and guitar ensemble, the Tonada Duo.

George is enthralled by all styles of music and enjoys exploring genres and performance settings outside the traditional solo concert setting. A recent effort includes string arrangements for pop music. As is the tradition of guitarists, he is a large advocate of new music and actively pursues collaborations with composers. George also explores chamber collaborations whenever possible.

George A. Little holds a B.A. in Music with an option in Guitar Performance from UMass Dartmouth where he studied guitar performance with William Riley, composition with Dr. Timothy Melbinger and chamber music with Paul Cienniwa. He is currently studying with David Patterson while pursuing his M.M. in performance from the Longy School of Music. He has received awards for excellence in music from UMass Dartmouth and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra and has peformed to enthusiastic audiences in the Boston, South Shore, and Rhode Island areas.