Rick Balestra
Lecturer in Music (Jazz Guitar)
Rick Balestra has performed as a featured soloist with the Syracuse Symphony and its pops orchestra and with the Syracuse Opera Company. He's also taken part in local and regional jazz festivals and has performed with the creative musical ensembles Drivetime, Alliance, Group Therapy and Spaces.
Balestra was the originator and facilitator of the International Guitar Festival held at the State University of New York, Oswego, from 2000-08. At the festival he and other Central New York musicians performed with internationally known artists such as Rez Abbasi, John Abercrombie, Gene Bertoncini, Roni Ben Hur, Rodney Jones, Vic Juris, Jonathan Kriesberg, Peter Leitch and Mike Stern.
Educational Background
M.Mus., Ithaca College
B.M.E., Syracuse University
