Buzau National Guitar Festival, Second Edition, 2009

10 May 2009

The second Edition of Buzau National Guitar Festival will be between 19 - 21 of June 2009, at "George Ciprian" Theatre in Buzau. The Guitar Contest will have 5 age categories and prizes valued at 7900 lei ~ 1800 euro.

Contest Regulations:

The Guitar Contest will have 5 age categories:

• A Category: up to 10 years old (on the contest date)
• B Category: 10 - 13 years old
• C Category: 13 - 16 years old
• D Category: 16 - 18 years old
• E Category: 18 - 25 years old

A Category: free program, with maximum duration of 8 minutes.

B Category: the program will include works from different stylistic periods, with maximum duration of 12 minutes.

C Category: the program will include works from different stylistic periods, with maximum duration of 15 minutes.

D Category: the program will include works from different stylistic periods, with maximum duration of 20 minutes.

E Category: the program will have a maximum duration of 30 minutes and will include:

• a Renaissance or Baroque work
• a Classical or Romantic work
• free program in the rest of time.

The winner of E Category will be invited to perform a recital during the next edition of the festival as a festival guest.

A participant may register for one age category only. The competitors order will be alfabetically.

Jury Members:

Musicologist Mihai Cojocaru - "George Enescu" Philarmonic (president of the jury)
Prof. Aurelian Andrei - "Dinu Lipatti" Music High School from Bucharest
Prof. Stefan Trifan - "Gheorghe Dima" Music Academy from Cluj-Napoca
Prof. Eugen Mang - Music Conservatory of Munchen Graduated
Prof. Stan Zamfirescu - "George Enescu" Music High School from Bucharest
Prof. Costin Soare - Music University from Bucharest
Prof. George Popescu - "George Enescu" Music High School from Bucharest
Prof. Marius Ragalie - "Margareta Sterian" High School of the Arts from Buzau
Prof. George Stanescu - Art School from Buzau

Participation fee:

• 30 lei for A, B and C Categories
• 50 lei for D and E Categories.

Participation form: download.

The participation form will be sent until 15 of June 2009.

Accommodation:

• 20 lei/person/night to "Grupul Scolar Tehnologic Buzau" Student Hostel
• 45 lei/night to a 3 star hotel.

The Official Opening is on Saturday, 20 of June 2009, 09:00 hours. The competition will start on Saturday, 20 of June 2009, 10:00 hours at George Ciprian" Theatre.

Transilvania International Guitar Festival

17-22 of August 2009, Seventh Edition

Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Transilvania International Guitar Festival addresses to contestants of all ages and proposes to promote professional instrumentalists and to stimulate young talents.



Guests: Duo Giampaolo Bandini - Cesare Chicchiaretta (Italy), Duo Melis: Susana Prieto - Alexis Mouzourakis (Spain, Greece), Gerhard Reichenbach (Germany), Joseph Urshalmi (Israel), Ulrich Muller (Germany), Harold Gretton (Australia), Duo Ana-Maria Iordache - Mihaela Iordache (Romania), Aurelian Andrei (Romania), Liviu Georgescu (Romania), Eugen Mang (Romania).

Prizes: a classical guitar build special for this event by Constantin DUMITRIU, valued at 3500 Euro, 2000 euro money prizes, 5 recitals and concerts during international festivals in Romania, 4 Stipendiums for international festivals in Romania.

Solo Competition: 4 age categories.
Chamber Music Competition: 2 age categories.

Master classes: 5 individual meetings of 40 minutes each. Students may choose four preferred teachers.

Accommodation: organizers offer the accommodation for the participants and their companions at a student hostel, for 8-10 Euro per night; depending on the available number of rooms, participants may be accommodated on 2-3 stars hotel for 25-50 Euro per night.

Registration: the participants choosing accommodation in the student hostel will send the registration form and will pay the participation fee until 11 May 2009. The participants not choosing accommodation in the student hostel will send the registration form and will pay the participation fee until 1 August 2009.

Learn More

The Winners of Transilvania International Guitar Festival

The Winners of Transilvania International Guitar Festival
	23 August 2008 Harold Gretton is the winner of the Open Category Guitar Competition of the sixth edition. He will go back to Australia with a Constantin Dumitriu guitar, valued to 3500 euros.
Here is the complete list of prizes: A Category: I - Alecu Ciapi (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Stefan Trifan) II - Bogdan Stefan Marin (Bucuresti, prof. George Popescu) III - Vlad Soare (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Stefan Trifan) B Category: I - Alecu Ciapi (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Stefan Trifan) I - Radu Ionescu (Craiova, prof. George Mitrache) II - Patricia Nicula (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Stefan Trifan) II - Sergiu Hudrea (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Stefan Trifan) III - was not granted M - Miruna Moanta (Craiova, prof. George Mitrache) M - Bogdan Stefan Marin (Bucuresti, prof. George Mitrache) C Category: I - Mihai Popescu (Turnu Severin, prof. Victor Rosu) II - Walter Michael Buchholtzer (Iasi, prof. Eugen Mang si Constantin Lazar) III - Patricia Nicula (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Stefan Trifan) III - Porumb Andrada (Baia Mare, prof. Eugen Mang si Marinel Petreus) M - Sergiu Hudrea (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Stefan Trifan) M Radu Ionescu (Craiova, prof. George Mitrache) D Category: I Harold Gretton (Australia) II Eduard Leata (Bucuresti, prof. Liviu Georgescu) II Cristina Ciortan (Bucuresti, prof. Liviu Georgescu) III Ana-Maria Iordache (Bucuresti prof. Eugen Mang) M - Costin Soare (Bucuresti) M - Olivia Iancu (Bucuresti) M - Bogdan Mihailescu (Bucuresti, prof. Liviu Georgescu) M - Tudor Niculescu-Mizil (Bucuresti, prof. Catalin Stefanescu-Patrascu) M - Cristian Gramesc (Suceava) A Chamber Music Category: I - was not granted II - Sergiu Hudrea, Patricia Nicula, Alecu Ciapi (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Stefan Trifan) II - Vlad Soare, Mihai Tanta (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Stefan Trifan) B Chamber Music Category: I - Ana-Maria Iordache, Mihaela Iordache (Bucuresti, prof. Eugen Mang) II - Alina Suciu, Pitic Andrada (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Constantin Andrei) III - Marian Balan, Cezar Cimpeanu (Cluj-Napoca, prof. Constantin Andrei si Stefan Trifan)

Gabriel Bianco wins 2008 GFA International Solo Competition
	16 August 2008 The final day of the convention featured concerts by Michael Nicolella, Gyan Riley, and Marcin Dylla, filling in for Xue Fei Yang (whose visa was not approved in time for her to make the trip to San Francisco).
In the 14 and Under Division, the winners were: 1st prize: Saki Kato (Japan; Teacher- Shini Ichi Fukuda) 2nd prize: John-Marcel Williams (USA; Teacher - Stephen Aron) 3rd prize: Vincent Turner (USA; Teacher - Matthew Hinsley) 4th prize: Kevin Sherwin (USA; Teacher- Tali Roth) In the 15-18 Division, the winners were: 1st prize: Molly Manarchy (USA; Teacher - Mark Maxwell) 2nd prize: Tim Callobre (USA; Teacher - Bill Kanengiser) 3rd prize: Vladimir Bashmakov (Russia; Teacher - Leo Konsky) 4th prize: Ryan Voldstad (USA; Teacher - Slobodan Vujisic) And finally, in the International Competition, the winners were: 1st prize: Gabriel Bianco (France) 2nd prize: Pablo Garibay (Mexico) 3rd prize: Otto Tolonen (Finland) 4th prize: Austin Moorhead (USA) Congratulations to all the winners! Next year's convention will take place June 16-21, 2009 in Ithaca, New York. The Board of Directors has selected "Compadre," from Piazzolla's Cinco Piezas, as the required piece for the International Solo Competition. We look forward to welcoming you all to New York next summer! Source: guitarfoundation.org

Transilvania International Guitar Festival sixth Edition

The sixth edition of the TRANSILVANIA International Guitar Festival will take place in Cluj-Napoca during 18-23 August 2008.

The registration period for the Solo Guitar Competition and the Guitar Chamber Music Competition is opened until 1 August 2008.

The festival addresses to contestants of all ages and proposes to promote professional instrumentalists and to stimulate young talents.

The Transilvania International Guitar Festival has four components which cover the sides of artistically education:

1. Recitals of famous interpreters
2. Master-classes of noted international professors finalized by a Master Diploma
3. Lectures, seminars and instrument gallery
4. International competitions of classical guitar

There are a few changes in the Contest's Regulations, compared to the previous editions. These changes intend to fairly evaluate the contestant’s performing by two means: by performing works that are representative for the guitar repertory and by establishing clear criteria for evaluating participant’s performance.

One of the major changes of the Regulations is the list of representative guitar composers that ACT build for the competitors to choose their stylistically representative authors of their repertory. The list of composers can be enlarged by requesting the organizers for a certain author that is not listed.

The purpose of the list is to eliminate the ambiguities regarding the stylistic affiliation of authors from the competitors’ repertory. Also, the organizers do not claim that this list is the only valid list of composers by stylistic period, but it’s the one that is chosen for the competition of TRANSILVANIA International Guitar Festival.

Please consult the Contest’s Regulations for other changes and also the Program of the Festival.

The Winners of the 5th "Andrés Segovia" Competition for Young Guitarists

	27 May 2008 The 5th "Andrés Segovia" European Competition for Young Guitarists finished on Saturday, the 24th of May with the Award winners' concert.
The awards of The 5th "Andrés Segovia" European Competition for Young Guitarists are: I Category: First Prize: Lovro Peretic (Croatia) and Tuur Segers (Belgium) Second Prize: was not awarded Third Prize: Niels Pfeffer (Germany) Fourth Prize: Patrick Wolf (Germany) Fifth Prize: Sören Alexander Golz (Germany) Scholarships: Internationales Pfingstseminar Koblenz Guitar Festival: Todor Manojlovic (Germany) Bergisches Gitarrenfestival: Felix Spindler (Germany) II Category: First Prize: Juraj Majstorovic (Croatia) and Samuel Toro Pérez (Austria) Second Prize: was not awarded Third Prize: Vilmos Haraszti (Hungary) Fourth Prize: Mariusz Kozlowski (Poland) Fifth Prize: Timotej Kosovinc Zupanèiè (Slovenia) and Jakob Schmidt (Germany) Scholarships: Forum Gitarre Wien: Mariusz Kozlowski (Poland) Internationales Gitarrensymposium Iserlohn: Juraj Majstorovic (Croatia) III Category: First Prize: Ihar Dzedusenka (Belarus) Second Prize: Katarzyna Milczarek (Poland) Third Prize: Boadan Mihailescu (Romania) Fourth Prize: Sanel Redzic (Bosnia/Herzegovina) Fifth Prize: Jure Cerkovnik (Slovenia) Scholarships: Gitarrenfestspiele Nürtingen: Tomasz Fechner (Poland) Internationales Pfingstseminar Koblenz Guitar Festival: Georg Stettinger Austria International Guitar Festival Naxos (Greece): Bogdan Mihailescu (Romania) EGTA Award: Jakob Schmidt (Germany)

Sinaia International Guitar Festival's Awards

Anniversary edition:
25 years of guitar at Sinaia

The Sinaia Internationa Guitar Festival is one of the oldest guitar Festivals from Europe. For 25 years Sinaia hosted important names of guitar worldwide and became the core of Romanian classical guitar.

The XIIIth anniversary edition of Sinaia Festival was a remembrance of the old times of classical guitar in Romania, starting from Eduard Pamfil, Stefan Freischberger, Nicolae Epureanu, Adrian Ionescu, Simion Sihota, Ion Mihaescu, Constantin Mitulescu and Mihai Babii. Figures like Dumitru Capoianu, Liviu Georgescu, Constantin Andrei, Catalin Stefanescu Patrascu, Horia Sabin Dragoi, Eugen Mang, Constantin Stanciu, Corneliu George Voicescu, Ionut Dorobantu, Ionut Grigore, Gheorghe Petrovan, Ovidiu Atanasiu etc. were remembered with gratitude for their important contribution in founding and developing classical guitar school in Romania.

This anniversary edition was also a point of looking to the future of Romanian classical guitar, a brightly future with the help of the Romanian teachers and performers like Liviu Georgescu, Catalin Stefanescu Patrascu, Eugen Mang, Constantin Andrei, Aurelian Andrei, Maxim Belciug, Corneliu George Voicescu, Gheorghe Petrovan, George Mitrache, Victor Rosu, Ionel Tiganus, Ovidiu Atanasiu. From their masterful hands arised the young generation of guitar teachers and performers: Adrian Andrei, George Popescu, Mihai Cojocaru, Stan Zamfirescu, Ionut Zamfirescu, Georgeta Zamfirescu, Mircea Gogoncea, Teodora Zait, Ionut Dorobantu, Stefan Trifan, George Muntean, Istvan Beke, Andrei Turcu and many others.

During this edition of Sinaia Festival, Liviu Georgescu, the president of Romanian Guitar Foundation and the director of Sinaia International Guitar Festival, reunited a great part of these important classical guitar figures and created the context for all the guitar fans to spend a week of guitar in Sinaia.

During this week, we were enchanted by the guitar recitals of Carlo Marchione (Italy), Groningen Guitar Duo - Remco de Haan & Erik Westerhof (Holland), Gabriel Bianco (Frace), Mir Ali (U.S.A.), Ioana Gandabur (Canada), Georgeta, Stan and Ionut Zamfirescu (Romania).

The awards of Sinaia International Guitar Festival are as fallow:

D Category:

First Prize: Aleksander Wilgos (Grodzisk Maz, Polland)

Second Prize: Tudor Niculescu-Mizil (Bucharest, Romania)

Third Prize: Dimitris Dekavalas (London, England)

Stipendium - Transilvania International Guitar Festival: Cristina Ciortan and Bogdan Mihailescu (Bucharest, Romania)

F.R.C. Special Prize: Radu Valcu and Costin Soare (Bucharest, Romania)

C Category:

First Prize: Bogdan Mihailescu and Eduard Leata (Bucharest, Romania)

Second Prize: Andrei Serban Dragusanu (Bucharest, Romania)

Third Prize: was not awarded

F.R.C. Special Prize: Mihai Iancu Popescu (Drobeta Tr. Severin, Romania)

B Category:

First Prize: Sergiu Hudrea (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Second Prize: Iuliana Nitu (Bucharest, Romania) and Radu Ionescu (Craiova, Romania)

Third Prize: Patricia Nicula and Diana Moldovan (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

A Category:

First Prize: Alecu Ciapi (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Second Prize: Ioan Oprisan (Bucharest, Romania)

Third Prize: Bogdan Stefan Marin (Bucharest, Romania)

F.R.C. Special Prize: Alexandra Albeanu Craiova, Romania), Cristian Kaznovski (Bucharest, Romania) and Daniela Mihaela Costache (Focsani, Romania)