URI music professor a ‘Guitar Hero’ in teaching children around the world for past decade

KINGSTON, R.I. – June 9, 2026 – Adam Levin, an associate teaching professor of classical guitar in the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Music, is well-versed in delivering the dulcet tones of the classical guitar to audiences around the world.

Though he has achieved success as a Billboard-charting recording artist—three albums appearing on the top Classical Albums list—Levin realized that not everyone shared his good fortune of learning to love and play music and became driven to help provide that musical education far and wide.

URI Associate Teaching Professor of Classical Guitar Adam Levin in 2015 co-founded Kithara Project, a nonprofit that provides tuition-free classical guitar education to low-income school-aged children and youth in five cities across the United States and Mexico, including in Providence and Boston. (Courtesy Adam Levin)

After reconnecting with a friend who Levin met while studying in Italy, he put his educational plan to action by launching the nonprofit Kithara Project in 2015 with longtime friend Matthew Rohde—a successful classical guitarist in his own right. Named after an ancient Greek string instrument, the Kithara Project provides tuition-free classical guitar education to low-income school-aged children and youth.

Along with offering access to world-class artists in-residence, guitar-building workshops and opportunities to perform in front of live audiences, the Kithara Project also opens doors for children looking to achieve positive outcomes through musical education.

“Most people don’t have access to a classical guitar education, so we wanted to bridge that gap,” Levin said. “This organization cultivates the children’s love for the classical guitar. It’s made these young people who never even knew that the classical guitar existed more disciplined and sensitive human beings and introduced them to different cultures through the music.”

Raffi Donoian ’11 ’25, who earned degrees in musical education from URI, provides as Kithara Project’s Providence leader weekly individual lessons, ensemble classes allowing students to collaborate musically, and has students listen to recorded music and discuss guitar and music theories. (Courtesy Raffi Donoian)

Community impact

Levin first met Rohde in 2005 and spent multiple summers in Italy studying from one of the great classical guitar pedagogues of recent memory, Oscar Ghiglia. The two lost touch for nearly a decade before reconnecting through a mutual friend at the New England Conservancy in Boston—and immediately went to work on their dream organization.

Approximately 110 elementary and high school students are enrolled in the five Kithara Project locations—Providence, Boston, Detroit, Albuquerque, and Mexico City. As of 2025, the nonprofit, which was recently nominated as a “Community Treasure” by WJAR-TV NBC 10 in Providence, has a high student retention rate and students across all locations participated in 13 total recitals and public performances.

While many organizations offer group lessons, Kithara Project is notable for welcoming guest artists from around the world to offer its students weekly private, one-on-one instruction. Levin said the individualized lessons help build both the students’ guitar playing and their repertoire of pieces they can play as soloists. Also, Kithara Project’s programming across its five locations is interconnected, with students and teachers learning and collaborating with one another.

“The guest artists they learn from breathe life into their studies, perform for them, help inspire them and offer additional perspectives on how to refine their craft,” Levin said.

Raffi Donoian leads his Kithara Project class on stage at Hope High School in Providence. (Courtesy Adam Levin)

Rhody connection

Levin said Hope High School in Providence inviting URI’s guitar ensemble to perform for students inspired the Kithara Project to launch its Providence program in 2025, helping integrate classical guitar into the music curricula. The program began with a mix of sophomores and juniors from Hope High. The organization will look to add a second class to offer more Providence students opportunities to learn, Levin said.

“Our performance at Hope High was incredibly inspiring,” Levin said. “Seeing both the enthusiasm of the students and the school’s remarkable performing arts venue made it immediately clear to me that there was potential to build something meaningful there.”

Levin also found someone close to home to lead Kithara’s Providence location. URI alum Raffi Donoian ’11 ’25, who earned degrees in music performance and balanced teaching and has played in front of live audiences, was approached by Levin to mentor the Hope High students for the organization. It was a fast “yes” by Donoian to help his longtime friend.

Donoian’s Kithara classes include weekly individual lessons, ensemble classes allowing students to collaborate musically, and a “free for all,” where students listen to recorded music and discuss guitar and music theories, in general. “I make sure the students learn about the fundamentals of music, most importantly,” said Donoian, who in 2017 was recognized as a distinguished teacher in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

Donoian said that seeing the students become excited both in playing guitar and taking the initiative to learn music on their own has been extremely gratifying.

“I would play some music and a student would say ‘oh, is it this song?,’” Donoian said. “It wasn’t an assignment; she took it upon herself to look more into this music. Just that students were exploring on their own has been amazing.”

As guitar students perfect their crafts through Kithara Project, some have also participated in the URI Guitar and Mandolin Festival, an annual celebration of music and creativity that welcomes some of the world’s finest musicians.

The students performed as members of the Mega Guitar Orchestra, part of the festival’s finale. The Providence students, meanwhile, gained valuable knowledge through the festival’s workshops, masterclasses and concerts. Kithara’s young musicians thus had an eye-opening experience both meeting and performing with world-class guitarists they otherwise wouldn’t have.

“I think that experience was tremendously important because it gave them a real context for excellence—a glimpse into the broader artistic world that classical guitar can open up,” Levin said. “I strongly believe these experiences help develop not only stronger musicians, but also more civic-minded young people.”

Kithara Project’s future, especially in Rhode Island, is promising. Kithara’s plan for Providence next year is to double the number of students taking guitar classes—from 12 to 24—and add a teacher, Donoian said.

Levin also said Kithara’s programming, Providence notwithstanding, will continue to strengthen the musical ecosystem by creating educational pathways between Hope High School, the Kithara Project, URI and the broader classical guitar community, he said.

“My hope is that these students will continue carrying music with them throughout their lives—whether as performers, music majors, minors, or simply as people for whom music remains an essential part of their identity and education,” Levin said.