International classical guitar competitions are public events designed to identify and award outstanding classical guitar soloists, ensembles, and composers. They allow artists to promote themselves and gain exposure. Some competitions also have newly composed "set" pieces which serve to increase the classical guitar repertoire.
The guitar seems to be the absentee in musical competitions until the Second World War.
In recent years, many international classical guitar competitions were established.
Competition Name | Town | Country | Last year active | 1st prize cash, USD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Qingdao International Guitar Art Festival and Competition | Qingdao | China | 2019 | 15504 (CN¥ 100,000) |
Daejeon International Guitar Competition | Daejeon | South Korea | 2017 | 10000 |
International Guitar Festival China Changsha | Changsha | China | 2018 | 10000 |
Tokyo International Guitar Competition | Tokyo | Japan | 2018 | 9112 (¥ 1,000,000) |
Taiwan International Guitar Festival & Competition | Taipei | Taiwan | 2018 | 8000 |
Adelaide Guitar Festival and International Classical Guitar Competition | Adelaide | Australia | 2018 | 7519 (A$ 10,000) |
Altamira International Virtual Guitar Competition | Hong Kong | China | 2021 | 6500 |
Singapore international Guitar Festival and Competition | Singapore | Singapore | 2016 | 2000 |
Asia International Guitar Festival & Competition | Bangkok | Thailand | 2018 | none |
Saigon International Guitar Festival | Ho Chi Minh | Viet Nam | 2024 | none |
Competition Name | Town | Country | Last year active |
---|---|---|---|
Guitar Masters International Guitar Competition & Festival | Wroclaw | Poland | 2016 |
International Classical Guitar Competition Stefano Strata - città di Pisa | Pisa | Italy | 2015 |
Calcutta International Classical Guitar Festival & Competition | Kolkata | India | 2014 |
World Guitar Competition | Novi Sad | Serbia | 2013 |
International Guitar Competition Rene Bartoli | Aix-en-Provence | France | 2006 |
International Guitar Competition Mauro Giuliani | Bari | Italy | 2004 |
Competition Name | Town | Country | Last year active |
---|---|---|---|
LASP Classical Guitar Festival & Youth Competition | Milwaukee, WI | USA | 2022 |
International competition for young guitarists | Gauting | Germany | 2016 |
Gevelsberg Guitar Competition | Gevelsberg | Germany | 2016 |
International Competition for Young Guitarists «Andrés Segovia» | Monheim am Rhein | Germany | |
Terra Siculorum International Classical Guitar Festival and Competition | Odorheiu Secuiesc | Romania | |
Transilvania Youth Guitar Competition | Cluj Napoca | Romania | 2023 |
Vojvodina Guitar Fest International classical guitar competition | Novi Sad | Serbia | 2018 |
Analysis of data at a piano competition, with many high-level participants, has made it doubtful that judges are able to make fully objective judgments; because there was a small correlation between the order of appearance of participants and their ranking:
On the other hand, if a competition has many professional-level artistic participants, it may not even be possible to make an objective judgment of who is "best"; because: given numerous professional-level artistic performers, there may not even be room for the concept of comparison; since this presumes the existence of a "best" interpretation, which is itself questionable (and would be a commercialization of art; viewing it from a mass-consumption or absolutist point of view).
The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the modern steel-string acoustic and electric guitars, both of which use metal strings. Classical guitars derive from instruments such as the lute, the vihuela, the gittern, which evolved into the Renaissance guitar and into the 17th and 18th-century baroque guitar. Today's modern classical guitar was established by the late designs of the 19th-century Spanish luthier, Antonio Torres Jurado.
Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia's contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire included not only commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style.
Frederic Mompou Dencausse, or Federico Mompou, was a Spanish composer and pianist.
The International Chopin Piano Competition, often referred to as the Chopin Competition, is a piano competition held in Warsaw, Poland. It was initiated in 1927 and has been held every five years since 1955. The competition is one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competitions. It is also one of the few competitions devoted entirely to the works of a single composer, in this case, Frédéric Chopin. The competition is currently organized by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.
Ivo Pogorelić is a Croatian pianist. He is known for his sometimes unorthodox interpretations, which have brought him a sizable following and both praise and criticism from musical experts. A musician of wide repertoire, his recordings include works by a variety of composers from the early 18th through 20th centuries.
Pavel Steidl is a classical guitarist who was born in Rakovnik, Czechoslovakia, but has lived in the Netherlands for many years.
Eliot Hamilton Fisk is an American classical guitarist.
Alirio Díaz was a Venezuelan classical guitarist and composer, considered one of the most prominent composer-guitarists of South America and an eminent musician. He studied with Andrés Segovia, and gave concerts all over the world.
Goran Krivokapić is a Montenegrin classical guitarist.
The "Michele Pittaluga" International Classical Guitar Competition is an annual music competition for classical guitarists held in Alessandria, Italy. It was founded in 1968 and has earned an international reputation, entering membership of the World Federation of International Music Competitions - Geneve in 1981, ISPA - New York in 2010 and UNESCO. It is the oldest active international classical guitar competition in Italy and one of the oldest in the world.
Emanuel "Manny"Ax is a Grammy-winning American classical pianist. He is known for his chamber music collaborations with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinists Isaac Stern and Young Uck Kim, as well as his piano recitals and performances with major orchestras in the world.
Denis Azabagić is a Bosnian classical guitarist.
Hans Haug was a Swiss composer and conductor, mainly of operas and theatrical music. He also became known as a composer for the classical guitar.
Mircea Ștefan Gogoncea is a Romanian classical guitarist.
József Eötvös is a classical guitarist, from Pécs, Hungary. Eötvös studied with Roland Zimmer and Franz Just at the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt", Weimar. He won several international competitions between 1985 and 1988. He has since toured extensively through Europe, including concerts in Austria, Bohemia, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Sweden, and Slovakia. Eötvös is credited with the transcription and first ever recording of the Goldberg Variations in the original key, previously considered a most daunting cross-over from Bach's keyboard works.
Edoardo Catemario is an Italian classical guitarist.
Daniil Olegovich Trifonov is a Russian pianist and composer. Described by The Globe and Mail as "arguably today's leading classical virtuoso" and by The Times as "without question the most astounding pianist of our age", Trifonov's honors include a Grammy Award win in 2018 and the Gramophone Classical Music Awards' Artist of the Year Award in 2016. The New York Times has noted that "few artists have burst onto the classical music scene in recent years with the incandescence" of Trifonov. He has performed as soloist with such orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony and the Munich Philharmonic, and has given solo recitals in such venues as Royal Festival Hall, Carnegie Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Berliner Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Concertgebouw, and the Seoul Arts Center.
The ISANGYUN Competition is an international music competition, held annually in Tongyeong, South Korea. It commemorates Isang Yun (1917–1995), a Korean composer who was born in Tongyeong and later settled in Germany. The competition was established in 2003 as the Gyeongnam International Music Competition, and renamed to ISANGYUN Competition in 2008. It consists of a three-year "cycle", where each year, or "edition", consists of a different instrument in the rotation: cello, piano, and violin.
Michael Laucke was a Canadian classical, new flamenco and flamenco guitarist and composer. Starting at the age of thirteen, Laucke gave professional snooker demonstrations and his winnings allowed him to take trips from Montreal to New York City to study the classical guitar with Rolando Valdés-Blain. With a career spanning over 30 years, Laucke began performing in 1965, recording the first of 16 albums in 1969, and toured in 25 countries. In 1971, he performed his first of many concerts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His first concert in New York, where he also first met Senator Claiborne Pell, took place in 1972.