Özgen and MIGF Recognized as Winner of the 2016 Knight Arts Challenge!

Founder and Artistic Director of the Miami International GuitART Festival, guitarist/composer Mesut Özgen was recognized as one of the 2016 Knight Arts Challenge award winners. Matt Haggman, Miami Program Director for Community and National Initiatives with Knight Foundation and Victoria Rogers, Vice President/Arts for Knight Foundation, presented the award to Özgen at the Knight Foundation's 9th annual celebration at the New World Center in Miami Beach on November 28, 2016.

Özgen started the festival at the Florida International University School of Music, where he is the director of guitar studies, in February 2016. After the success of MIGF in its first year, Özgen will be awarded a $55,000 grant from Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, to honor Miami's Cuban heritage by dedicating the Miami International GuitART Festival to Cuban music and creating cultural exchanges between Havana and Miami guitar orchestras.

In addition to the Knight Arts Challenge, Özgen and the MIGF have also been awarded to receive the Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. More info at migf.fiu.edu