Transilvania Guitar Association

Buzau National Guitar Festival, Second Edition, 2009

2009-06-27T02:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-25T02:32:00.001-07:00

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)

2008-08-25T02:31:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

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:

Recitals of famous interpreters
Master-classes of noted international professors finalized by a Master Diploma
Lectures, seminars and instrument gallery
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

2008-05-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

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)

Sinaia International Guitar Festival 2008

2008-04-15T05:37:00.001-07:00

Anniversary edition:
25 years of guitar at Sinaia

The thirteenth edition of the International Festival of Classical Guitar Sinaia - Romania will take place from 5 to 10 May.

1. International contest
2. Contests of young guitarists under the age of 17.
3. Master class
4. Recitals
5. Guitar exhibition - Constantin Dumitriu
6. Gala Concert "Five o'clock" at the Castle

Recitals
Recitals will be held by master from above in the Symposium concert hall of New Montana Hotel, every evening from 21.00, as folows: :
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).

Exhibition and guitar show room held by Maestro Constantin Dumitriu - Romania

Gala Concert “Five o’clock at the Castle" will take place on Sunday, 10th of May at 17.00 o’clock at the “Foisor Castle”.

Other guests & jury:
Voicu Enachescu, Horia Sabin Dragoi, Constantin Andrei, Eugen Mang, Stefan Trifan, Beke Isthvan, Mihai Cojocaru.

Master classes
Simultaneously with the contest a master class will be held by great masters of International fame: Carlo Marchione (Italy), Groningen Guitar Duo (Remco de Haan & Erik Westerhof) – Holand, Mir Ali (U.S.A.), Gabriel Bianco (France), Ioana Gandrabur (Canada), Rosen Balkansski, Dimitar Doychinov (Bulgaria), Catalin Stefanescu-Patrascu and Liviu Georgescu (Romania).

Alba Guitar Festival

2008-04-08T07:40:00.001-07:00

The Second Edition of Spring Guitar Festival from Alba Iulia will take place in May, between the 16 – 18th, 2008.
The Opening Festivity will be on the 16th of May at 09:00.

All the participants will enjoy three great recitals, each evening at 19:00 o’clock at The Roman Catholic Cathedral in Alba Iulia.

The participation fee is 20 euros. The candidates will anounce the organizers the day they arrive.

There are two possibilities of accommodation for the candidates: to pay 10 euros/night and stay at a hostel or pay 35 euros/night and stay at an 3*** Hotel.

The masterclass fee is 15 Euros for one session (aprox. 30 min), 30 Euros for two sessions and 40 Euros for four sessions.

Classical Guitar Maker Constantin Dumitriu

2008-04-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

Constantin Dumitriu discovered the guitar in 1987 under the directions of Eduard Pamfil. Advised by the same great guitarist and professor, he begins constructing the instruments which later will travel along and across Europe.

In 2003 he travels in Sweden to meet Alejandro Van der Horst, student of the famous luthier Antonio Marin Montero, event which will definitely determine the development in constructing his instruments.

The professionalism, the importance of details and his creative passion, the willing to innovate and to experiment new techniques, those are the definitive attributes of the DUMITRIU classical guitars, used by great guitarist from the entirely world, like Hubert Kappel, Marcin Dylla, Thomas Kirchhoff, Dale Kavanagh, Stan Zamfirescu or Maxim Belciug.

World Autism Day 2008

2008-04-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

De anul acesta, 2 Aprilie va fi Ziua Mondiala a Autismului, in lume existand peste 60 de milioane de persoane ce sufera de autism, cea mai mare parte regasindu-se in tarile subdezvoltate din Africa si Asia.

In Cluj-Napoca, aceasta zi a fost marcata printr-o campanie de informare, initiata de singura speranta a parintilor copiilor ce sufera de autism.

Milena Pruna este presedintele Asociatiei Autism Transilvania, care a fost infiintata in 2006. Asociatia ofera servicii de consultanta si de suport pentru familiile cu copii autisti, precum si programe de terapie comportamentala a copiilor autisti. In prezent, asociatia poate oferi terapie doar pentru o mica parte din cererea pe care o are, fiind una din putinele cu acest profil din tara si singura din Cluj, iar spatiul in care functioneaza fiind restrans.

Astazi, membrii Asociatiei, voluntarii si cativa parinti au iesit in strada si au impartit pliante cu informatii despre aceasta boala. In materialul video, Milena vorbeste si despre manifestarea autismului, despre simptomele care ar trebui sa puna niste semne de intrebare parintilor.

Autismul este o boala caracterizata prin scaderea capacitatii de a comunica si de a interactiona pe plan social, prin comportament stereotip si repetitiv.

Mai multe informatii despre aceasta boala puteti afla chiar de la Milena Pruna, din materialul video, dar si adresandu-i intrebari la autismtransilvania@yahoo.com.

How To Tell The differences Between Hand Made and Factory Made Classical Guitars

2008-04-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

By Ervin Somogyi
*The following article first appeared in American Lutherie* magazine no.85/spring 2006, which is published by the Guild of American Luthiers". Guitars International wishes to thank Ervin Somogyi and the Editors of American Lutherie for allowing us to reprint its contents.** (Reproduction of this article in any form - in whole or in part - without the expressed written consent of the Guild of American Luthiers is prohibited). It may seem strange to some readers to find an article touching on metaphysics in a magazine on guitar making; it will also seem perfectly appropriate to others that such a topic be included. The metaphysics of the guitar has to do with "that extra something" that's intangible and possibly even indefinable. Some guitars have it. Some don't. It is variously called "the magic," "the soul," "the allure," and so on, even though these terms can be elastic and elusive. None of this is exactly news to anyone who knows the guitar. I've thought about this. It seems to me that there are at least two components to "the magic." The first one has to do with whether a guitar has sufficient "extra oomph" (by whatever standard one wishes to define it: tone, warmth, exquisiteness, subtlety, etc.) to warrant one's falling in love with it. No mystery in this. This happens at the level of performance/attributes that can eventually be discerned and identified, even if at first the instrument seems magically beyond words. It really isn't: the words can/will sooner or later be found. The second component is surprisingly interesting. It is that the player is a participant in the guitar at the level of quality, whether he or she knows it or not, or even wants to be or not. How is this so? Well, the fact is that what one sees and hears and thinks is as much a question of how one thinks -- and one's level of development, education, and imaginative capacity -- as it has to do with the qualities of the object that is perceived. By this I do not mean seeing imaginary qualities; I mean being open to appreciating the same kind of intangible yet real qualities that a book might contain and which would be totally unavailable to someone who cannot read. This is not a tricky intellectual concept. It is no different from saying that a beginning-level (fill in the occupation of your choice here) will not have yet become as perceptive, experienced, discerning, and knowledgeable a person as someone who had been doing the work for some time. Metaphysically, the potential knowledge, attitudes, and skill levels already exist "out there" somewhere, in the ether of possibility, waiting to be accessed and taken on by the person in question. It's just that he or she just hasn't gotten there... yet. A well-made handmade guitar, then, from even a semisophisticated point of view, would be seen as exactly what it is: a repository of embedded or "frozen" information. By this I mean the skill, time, patience, effort, energy, experience, acquired wisdom, intent, judgment, intelligence (including emotional intelligence), and design work put into it by the maker. That's the guitar's soul. If you are uncomfortable with this term, try value, skilled man-hours, or a lifetime of work experience; they fit equally well, although in my opinion these are narrower. Either way, the well-made guitar contains these things, even though they might not be seen with the naked eye. They are there nonetheless because the maker put them in there. By the same token: what of a stock, ordinary guitar? It is something that contains much less actual information because so much less actual effort or information has been expended in its production. The main effort will have been expended, instead, into organizing the tooling and the work force. In purely mechanical terms, the work of creating such a guitar has been automated, made full of repetitive operations, and done by workers who are forbidden to vary or change the smallest thing. And that is such a guitar's soul, too. These things are obvious to some people, but not so obvious to others; guitars that look and sound profoundly different to members of the former group will look and sound pretty much alike to the latter. And this, really, is the crux of the matter for most of us: items that are rich in contained information or quality, and goods that carry little or no information or quality, often look very much the same on the surface level. This is just as true in a guitar store as it is, in its own way, at a debutante ball, a used car lot, or on the floor of Congress. But there is a way of knowing whether such things are comparable or not -- and it's a satisfactory way. For thousands of years, Knowing Things has been done with reference to the traditional hierarchical structure/existence of things in the world. Here, in normal everyday life, everything is understood as ``belonging' to either the mineral, vegetable, animal, or human/spiritual realm. And possibilities of knowing are set within each level or category. Bear with me a second here. E. F. Schumacher, in his book A Guide for the Perplexed, uses the example of an ordinary book to illustrate this point. To wit: to a mineral, a book would be absolutely meaningless. To a plant, the same book might signify merely a shady area in contrast with a sunny one. To a frog, the book might signify a flat surface to sit on, or a color. To an illiterate savage the book might signify nothing more than something to burn for heat or material to roll cigarettes with. But to a literate person, the book can be full of knowledge and insight. Same book; totally different experiences of it depending on the observer and the level he/she/it is operating at. Just so with the guitar: some people will recognize that certain guitars, as man-made objects, contain more information than others. Being information-rich makes these guitars more valuable to any person operating within a set of perceptual values that are informed by a capacity to appreciate intangibles -- such as symbolic language, which every article in this magazine is made up of, and use of which is the cornerstone of human intelligence. Without literacy, as I suggested before, this entire issue of American Lutherie would probably be seen as great cigarette-rolling material. Or worse. Many other individuals, however, will see all guitars as containing basically the same amount of information (i.e., same amount of materials, same parts and components, same basic look) modified principally by category (solid top, upgrade to rosewood, etc.), quantity (more extensive inlay work), accessories package (comes with a factory-installed internal pickup), and membership card (it's a Martin), and they will be unable to understand different levels of inherent value outside those assigned by marketers and market forces. Unless there's openness of mind somewhere along the line, there will be no more possibility of meaningful discussion between members of these groups than there would be between, say, an NRA member and a gun control advocate. Or, to use a more pertinent example, imagine a discussion between an art lover and someone who doesn't "get" that a work of art could be worth more than the bronze, marble, clay, or pigment and canvas it contains, plus a certain per-hour rate for the time it took to make it. There are people like that. I know; I've met them. They aren't necessarily bad, but they're simply people you can't talk with. Source: Guitars International

The Winners of the International Guitar Festival Targu Mures

2008-03-31T04:51:00.000-07:00

The second edition of the festival from Targu Mures just finished with the two concerts with Symphonic Orchestra of Beke Istvan (classical guitar) - Nagy Éva (flute) and Pavlovits Dávid (classical guitar).

Ionut Zamfirescu (Romania) is the laureate of this edition and the winner of the Giussani classical guitar.
The second guitarist was an Hungarian - I don't remember his name for now, but I will surely return with more info.
On the third place were Georgeta Zamfirescu and Ana Maria Iordache.

The other age categories were represented by Alecu Ciapi (A Category, first prize), another good young Hungarian guitar player for B Category (I'm not good with Hungarian names, but, again, I will get the official winner's list soon) and Eduard Leata (C Category, first prize).

Congratulations to all of them!

International Classical Guitar Festival, Targu Mures, second edition

2008-03-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

The second edition of the International Classical Guitar Festival, Targu Mures began with great emotions and expectations from the organizers. The Festival hosts remarcable figures of classical guitar from Romania and abroad.

The Festival began on Tuesday, the 25th of March, with the Opening Festivity, master classes and Pusztai Antal's guitar recital. The organizers faced with a great deal of thrills when he interpret arrived in Targu Mures only half hour before his recital; that didn't stop him though to perform in a first class concert.

The second day hosted the classical guitar competition for A and B age categories and
also the first stage of the last category of age. The contestants are satisfied and they are waiting for the third stage of the competition, the most difficult one. In the third stage the participants and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Targu Mures will perform a concert movement, by choice:

* Castelnuovo- Tedesco- Concerto in Re
* H. Villa Lobos – Concerto
* Mauro Giuliani- Primo Concerto in La Maggiore op 30

All the 5 contestants in the third category of age passed the forst stage of the competition. They were evaluated by a jury formed by important figures of classical guitar and classical music:
* dr Puscas Pavel (Ro) - President of the jury
* Constantin Andrei (Ro)
* Liviu Georgescu (Ro)
* Eugen Mang (Ro)
* Fazakas Aaron (Ro)
* drd.Beke István Ferenc (Ro)
* Palvlovits Dávid (Hu)
* Paulikovics Pál (At)
* Andreas von Wangenheim (De)
All the 5 contestants are competing for the grand prize: a master guitar valued at 3500 Euro and the invitation for a recital at the next edition of Tg.- Mureş Festival with a full board accommodation for the whole period.

Mircea Gogoncea - Texas Guitar Competition & Festival

2008-03-21T07:58:00.001-07:00

7th Annual, March 6-8, 2008

Location: UT Dallas Conference Center

This unique Texas competition, designed to showcase outstanding classical guitar students, will award $6,000 in cash prizes to the winners. Over the three-day event, students can compete and attend master classes and concerts by internationally recognized guitarists.

Prize Money: 1st-$3000, 2nd-$2000, 3rd-$1000

Congratulations to the 7th Annual Guitar Competition Winners!

First Place - $3000 winner
Nemanja Ostojic

Second place - $2000 winner
Mircea Gogoncea

Third Place - $1000 winner
Scott Borg

Fourth Place
Silviu Ciuleu

Alecu Ciapi plays F. Tarrega, Maria, gavotte

2008-03-15T06:51:00.001-07:00

Maria - gavotte, by Francisco Tarrega, in the Gala of Laureats of Transilvania International Guitar Festival, 2007, fifth edition, A Category, first prize

read more | digg story

Victor Valisena plays F. Carulli, Six divertissements nr. 1

2008-03-15T06:49:00.001-07:00

F.Carulli - Six divertissements nr. 1, in the Gala of Laureats of Transilvania International Guitar Festival, 2007, fifth edition, First Prize, A Category

read more | digg story

Sergiu Hudrea plays F. Tarrega, Rosita, polka

2008-03-15T06:48:00.001-07:00

Francisco TARREGA - Rosita, polka, in the Gala of Laureats of Transilvania International Guitar Festival, 2007, fifth edition, B Category, first prize

read more | digg story

Transilvania Festival, fifth Edition

2008-03-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

Cluj-Napoca 22-25 of November 2007, Fifth Edition

The TRANSILVANIA International Guitar Festival, organized by TRANSILVANIA Guitar Association, addresses to contestants of all ages and proposes to promote professionis instrumentalists and to stimulate young talents. Being on it's fifth edition, starting from this year the Festival will host a guitar chamber music contest. As part of the Festival will be present prominent figures of guitar.

The organizers offer the accommodation for all the participants at a student hostel, free of charge and for their companions the fee is 20 RON/night; depending on the available number of rooms, participants may be accommodated on a board and lodging for 12-16 euro/night. Meal expenses will be supported by the participants.

Table of Contents

Festival's Guests
Contest's Regulations
The Guitar Contest's Jury
Festival's Awards

Festival's Guests

The old traditions of German and Italian culture, indissoluble connected with the guitar's history, honored the preceding edition of the Festival through the presence in recitals and in jury's staff of their famous representatives of modern guitar schools, Giovanni GRANO, Giampaolo BANDINI, Cesare CHIACHIARETTA from Italy and Ulrich MULLER from Germany.

The success of their recitals alongside Constantin Andrei and the warm and sincere friendship that bond us, reason us into inviting them to our Festival on one of the most hospitable and renowned stage in Cluj-Napoca.

They will be joined by sonorous names of European modern guitar, Gabriel BIANCO and Claire STANCU DELERUE from France.

Also, one of the Romanian classical guitar's infant prodigy, Mircea GOGONCEA will give a concert in the second evening of the Festival as laureate of the 2005 edition.

Among the guests of the festival are: Pavel Puscas, Constantin Andrei, Aurelian Andrei, Eugen Mang, Liviu Georgescu, Gyorgy Nemes, Constantin Dumitriu, George Muntean, Tudor Anghelescu and Stefan Trifan.

Contest's Regulations

1. The solo classical guitar contest includes four categories of age:

* A Category up to 9 years old
* B Category from 10 to 12 years old
* C Category from 13 to 16 years old
* D Category without age limit2

1.1. For A Category the program will last3 maximum 10 minutes4 and will include at the most three works.
1.2. For B Category the program will last3 maximum 15 minutes4 and will include at the most three works.
1.3. For C Category the program will last3 maximum 20 minutes4 and will include at the most three works from at least two different stylistic periods.
1.4. For D Category without age limit, the contest will include two stages:

* the first stage has an eliminatory character; the program's duration will be of maximum 15 minutes and will include a preclassical and a classical work.
* for the second stage the program's duration will be of maximum 20 minutes and will include a romantic work, a modern or contemporary work and, optional, free program in the rest of time, except for the program presented in the first stage.

The prizes for this category are:
* First Prize: a classical guitar builded special for this event by Gyorgy Nemes, valued at 1500 Euro
* Second Prize: 400 Euro
* Third Prize: 250 Euro

2. The contest of guitar chamber music - duo, trio and quartet - includes two age categories:

* A-cm Category up to 14 years old
* B-cm Category without age limit

2.1 For the A-mc Category the program will last maximum 10 minutes and will include at the most two works. Only guitar formations are accepted.
2.2 For the B-mc Category the program will last maximum 15 minutes and will include at the most three works. Formations including at the most another instrument but classical guitar are accepted also.

3. The jury will be formed by important figures of classical guitar and will be presided by Ulrich Muller (Germany). The jury's resolutions are final. The sponsors and the organizers of the Festival may offer special prizes also.

4. The participation fee:
- Solo Classical Guitar Contest: 20 Euro6
- the Guitar Chamber Music Contest: 20 Euro / formation
- Master Class: 30 Euro / 2 meetings of 30 minutes
- Festival: 10 RON7

5. Any editions of the presented works are accepted; the candidate has to present the scores to the jury.

6. The registration form will be sent to TRANSILVANIA Guitar Association until Saturday, 10th of November 2007 to 400667, st. Bucegi, no. 11, ap. 39, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, through e-mail at our contact e-mails, or online in the Register Online section.

The Guitar Contest's Jury

Jury D Category:
Ulrich MULLER (president of the Jury)
Claire STANCU-DELERUE
Andrei CONSTANTIN
Eugen MANG
Aurelian ANDREI

Jury A, B and C Categories:
Giovanni GRANO
Constantin DUMITRIU
Stefan TRIFAN
Istvan BEKE
George MUNTEAN

Jury Chamber Music:
Pavel PUSCAS
Aurelian ANDREI
Stefan TRIFAN
Istvan BEKE
George MUNTEAN

Festival's Awards

Category D, without age limit:
First Prize: Gabor Podhorsky, Budapest, Ungaria
Second Prize: Radu Valcu, Bucharest, Romania, prof. Liviu Georgescu
Third Prize: Cristina Ciortan, Bucharest, Romania, prof. Liviu Georgescu
Mentions:
- Mihaela Iordache, Bucharest, Romania, prof. Eugen Mang
- Ana Maria Iordache, Bucharest, Romania, prof. Eugen Mang
- Lucretia Gabroveanu, Bucharest, Romania, prof. Eugen Mang
- Bogdan Mihailescu, Bucharest, Romania, prof. Liviu Georgescu
- Andre Madeira, Portugal, prof. Roberto Aussel si Odair Assad

Category C, age 13 - 16
First Prize: Eduard Leata, Pitesti, Romania, prof. Mara Badea
Second Prize: Andrei Dragusanu, Bucharest, Romania, prof. Eugen Mang
Third Prize: Victor Caplescu, Turnu-Severin, Romania, prof. Victor Rosu
Mentions:
- Walter Michael Buchholtzer, Iasi, Romania, prof. Laurentiu Topala, Constantin Lazar si Eugen Mang
- Andrada Porumb, Baia-Mare, Romania, prof. Marinel Petreus si Eugen Mang
- Mihai Popescu, Turnu-Severin, Romania, prof. Victor Rosu
- Bogdan Costea, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, prof. George Muntean
- Octavia Saratean, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, prof. stefan Trifan
- Akram Yaseen, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, prof, stefan Trifan
TRANSILVANIA Guitar Association's Special Prize:
- Yordanov Plamen, Ruse, Bulgaria, prof. Anton Yovchev

Category B, age 10 - 12
First Prize:
- Sergiu Hudrea, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, prof. stefan Trifan
- Victor Valisena, Padova, Italy, prof. Giovanni Grano
Second Prize:
- Roxana Borisova, Ruse, Bulgaria, prof. Ivan Kochev
- Nicula Patricia, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, prof. stefan Trifan
Third Prize: Radu Ionescu, Craiova, Romania, prof. George Mitrache
Mentions:
- Iulia Farcane, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, prof. Ludovic Biro
- Iuliana Nitu, Bucharest, Romania, prof. Eugen Mang

Category A - up to 9 years old
First Prize:
- Aleksandar Atanasov, Ruse, Bulgaria, prof. Georgi Todorov
- Alecu Ciapi, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, prof. stefan Trifan
Second Prize: Ioan Oprisan, Bucharest, Romania, prof. Eugen Mang
Third Prize: Bogdan Marin, Bucharest, Romania, prof. George Popescu

Category A Chamber Music - up to 15 years old
First Prize: Iuliana Nitu, Ana Maria Iordache - Bucharest, Romania, prof. Eugen Mang
Second Prize: Walter Michael Buchholtzer (Iasi), Andrada Porumb (Baia-Mare) - prof. Eugen Mang
Third Prize: Alecu Ciapi, Cristian Cucuianu, Sergiu Hudrea - Cluj-Napoca, Romania, prof. Stefan Trifan

Category B Chamber Music - without age limit
First Prize: Andrei Dragusanu, Lucretia Gabroveanu - Bucharest, Romania, prof. Eugen Mang
Second Prize: Dimcho Gaydarov, Ani Gaydarova - Ruse, Bulgaria, prof. Ivan Kochev
Third Prize: Darius Micu, Gheorghita Damian, Laura Platon, Laura Neacsu - Cluj-Napoca, Romania, prof. Constantin Andrei
Mentions: Viorela Filimona, Valentin Constantin, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, prof. Constantin Andrei

TRANSILVANIA International Guitar Festival, Sixth Edition, , 19-24 August 2008

2008-03-11T04:14:00.000-07:00

The TRANSILVANIA International Guitar Festival, organized by TRANSILVANIA Guitar Association, addresses to contestants of all ages and proposes to promote professionis instrumentalists and to stimulate young talents. Being on it's sixthe dition, the Festival hosts a guitar chamber music contest also. As part of the Festival will be present prominent figures of guitar.

The TRANSILVANIA International Guitar Festival responded to a large field of public's expectations - specially the young segment - by making use of the potential of classical guitar school from Transylvania and from other musical centers in Romania.

During the past five editions, the Festival consolidated as a cultural pole, becoming the most important festival of guitar from Transylvania. Opened entirely for the public, the Festival has three components which cover the the sides of artistically education:

Recitals of famous interpreters
Master-classes of noted international professors finalized by a Master Diploma, lectures, seminars and instrument gallery
International contest of classical guitar