Today is the big day when we find out the winners of the competition. Tonight in the Lorca theatre the three finalist flamenco guitars will be played and the jury will assign first, second and third prizes. Guitars made by Mijail Kharash, a Granada-based maker, Victor Quintanilla, and Alessandro Perciaccante will be judged. Also, the fnalists in the classical category will be played and the three prizes determined by the jury. In this case the guitars were made by Victor Quintanilla, Youri Soroka, Valerio Licari, Narongsak Visesnut, Honori Fukuda, and Darragh O’Connell. May the best maker win.

The first part of the competition involves a private interview for each participant with David Collet from Guitar Salon International and these interviews took place over the course of this morning and afternoon. This year Granada is represented by only two makers, Valerio Licari and Mijail Kharash. Nine countries in total are represented. At 9h30 tomorrow morning the guitars will be presented and the jury will examine and listen to each of the guitars. By Wednesday they will have eliminated some of them and will then choose the best among the remaining instruments. The finalists will be those remaining on Thursday evening at which time each guitar will be played in the concert hall before the jury announces the winners.  A short programme will then be played on the first prize guitar. You can find more information on

My wife and I saw Margarita Escarpa two years ago at this same Guitar Festival and we were thrilled by her performance; hers was far and away the best of the festival. So needless to say, the expectations were high this year when she came back to offer masterclasses to the CSU Summer Arts students and of course give another concert.

I can only say that she continues to be one of the best guitarists in Spain and without a doubt the warmest performer I have seen in ages. We need more people like this to bring the guitar to a wider audience. Last night’s concert was also an hommage to René Baarslag, one of the great Granada guitar-makers so it was especially satisfying to be there.

Once again a great concert by this impeccable guitarist. I saw her last year with her pianist sister and am pleased to say that she lived up to my expectations for this year on her own. She played a great Serenata Española, Fantasía Húngara and the Capricho diabolico and Carnaval de Venecia effortlessly. I am glad to see a bit of variety in the concerts this year but a great solo recital by an excellent guitarist is always welcome.

I have mentioned numerous times that during the Granada Guitar Festival the city fills up with players, teachers, students and makers. Some come for the great concerts

competing guitar-makers last year

The makers come to present their guitars in the building competition.

But one of the reasons why this festival is so successful is the co-ordination between the European Guitar Foundation and California State University. As part of its Summer Arts programme, CSU celebrates its guitar course here and this year has brought 27 students to study with some great guitarists. The course starts today and so I will be looking out for the students at concerts, workshops, falafel joints and bars. Last year the Association of Guitar-makers of Granada organized an opportunity for these students to try out guitars made by the Granada builders and we hope to do that again this year.