INFINITY WILLNER

ABOUT

Classical guitarist Infinity Willner's (they/them) performances have been described by their audiences as powerful and emotional. Through collaboration and experimentation within many performance contexts, they seek to break down barriers between audiences and performers creating music that is allowing for accessibility to audiences not often well-acquainted with Classical Music.

Growing up in Washington, DC in a musical family, Fin had their hands on instruments before they could speak. At five years old, they found their love for guitar under the mentorship of famed punk rocker, Mary Timony. The spirit of rock runs through their playing to this day. At eight years old, Infinity felt called toward the classical music realm and began their work with Magdalena Duhagon. At the young age of fourteen, they connected with Julian Gray, professor of Guitar at Peabody Conservatory, and began their studies with him. At sixteen, they graduated high school a year early in order to attend Peabody as a full-time student.

In their competition career, Infinity has won Grand Prize in the Beatty Competition for Classical Guitar, second place in the guitar competition at Le Domaine Forget, and first in the Eastern Music Festival guitar competition. Most recently, they are an alumni of prominent New Music festival and professional development intensive Fresh inc. festival.

In addition to their performing career, Fin was recognized as a 2017 YoungArts Foundation winner, having been selected as one of seven hundred winners through a rigorous audition process which received about eight thousand applications from young American artists of all disciplines. Through this program, they had the opportunity to attend the YoungArts New York weeklong intensive, where they had the privilege to work with well-respected musicians such as David Eggar, Christian Hebel, Lance Horne, Elizabeth Roe, Julian Wachner, and members of the ETHEL String Quartet. While there, they were part of a collaborative performance with the winners in Creative Writing and Poetry, in which they performed with cellist Isaiah Kim and poet Jessica Sommerville in an improvisatory accompaniment behind Jessica’s piece, “Road Trip.”

Current projects include collaborating with beloved Baltimore singer/songwriter, Christen B Taylor on her new album, entitled “Good Grief,” set to come out within the next year. They are also a member of Balagan Duo with violinist Audrey Maxner, which is focused on a wide variety of music including collaborations with composers and premiering new works. They are always working passionately with the LGBTQ+ community to empower the voices of the unheard LGBTQ+ artists in the world. 

Infinity has participated in Master Classes with highly regarded musicians from around the world, including Olivier Chassain, John Feeley, Martha Masters, Ronald Pearl, Kim Perlak, Pepe Romero, David Russell, Kami Rowan, and Jason Vieaux. They are currently pursuing a Masters of Music in Guitar Performance and Guitar Pedagogy at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University and remain in Julian Gray’s studio today.

Infinity plays a 2012 Michael O’Leary guitar named Fergus.