RMU co-hosted "The Time of the Guitar" Competition and Festival

On October 23 – 27, the First International Competition and Festival of Guitarists and Composers “The Time of the Guitar” was held in Moscow, organized by the Russian Musical Union in cooperation with Moscow International Association of Guitar Art (MMAGI).

The festival, designed to identify and support young talented performers and composers who write for classical guitar, has become a real creative event. Numerous participants from various cities of Russia, as well as from Belarus, Slovakia, Ukraine and Italy – juniors and college students, professional performers and composers took part in the competition.

The festival ended on October 27 with a gala concert of the laureates in the Concert Hall named after I.K. Arkhipova. The winners were determined in several categories: “Soloists”, “Chamber ensembles”, “Guitar orchestras” and “Composers”. The winners were determined by a jury composed of well-known Russian and foreign composers and classical guitar performers: professor at the Prague Conservatory, guitarist and composer Stepan Rak (Czech Republic), professor, head of the classical guitar department of the State Classical Academy named after Maimonida Eugene Finkelshtein, professor at Ghent Conservatory and Tilburg Academy of Arts Johan Fostier (Belgium), Honored Artist of Russia, Professor at Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory Vladislav Agafonnikov and other prominent musicians.

A special place in the festival program was given to the performances of the jury members: Stepan Rak (Czech Republic), Daniel Bolshoi (Canada), Johan Fostier (Belgium), Dmitry Illarionov, musicians of Moscow Guitar Trio. 

As noted by participants of this grand musical event, auditions, concerts by eminent Russian and foreign guitarists, master classes and many other events that inspired them were held at the highest level.