I have been writing about the guitar-making competition and wasn’t able to say much about the student concert that closed CSU’s Summer Arts programme in Granada this year. This is the second year that La Guitarra Española has been held in Granada and on wednesday evening we were told that it will be held here next year again. The students spend 3 weeks studying in Granada with great guitarists in a masterclass setting.  Over the past two years we have seen the likes of Scott Tennant, Pepe Romero, William Kanengiser, John Deaman, Matthew Grief, Vicente Coves, David Martinez, Magarita Escarpa, Rafael Aguirre, Kai Narezo and the director of the course Dr. Scott Morris.
The concert on August 8 was very well played, eclectic and enjoyed by the varied public present in the town hall courtyard. Bach, Spanish composers, brazilian music and contemporary composers like Brouwer were all represented. There were even two flamenco pieces which all of the students played together. My favorites always seem to be the quartets as they are impeccably played and often much more interesting musically. Believe it or not even a guitar-maker can get tired of solo guitar after seeing so many guitar concerts in such a short time during the Festival which runs parallel to the Summer Arts course.

Making great guitars is a question of having great teachers, good wood, and a bit of luck but mostly a true passion for your work and tons of practice making guitars. Francisco Muñoz has been making guitars for many years in Granada and I have watched his progression since I met him well over 10 years ago. His hard work is paying off now that he won first prize in the II International Guitar-making Competition “Antonio Marin Montero“. The prize consists of having Guitar Salon International and  Jitamen (China) each order and purchase two of his guitars.

I had to catch a plane on the second day of the competition but was able to take in the first day of sound testing and deliberations and was pleased and very impressed  by the time, effort and dedication of the jury members in examining the guitars. After hearing the verdict I am convinced that everyone can see the impartiality of the jury. Once again Vicente Coves (director of the festival) has filled  the city with guitar-makers, guitarists, and guitar buyers and is bringing more of the general public to the guitar.

These are the guitars which will be vying for the top three prizes today in the Centro Federico García Lorca.

Yulong Guo, China
Hans Van Velzen, Holanda
Yan Lei , China
Hironori Fukuda, Japón
Fernando Moreno, España
Francisco Alba, España

http://granadaguitarfestival.com/Festival-Internacional-de-la-Guitarra-de-Granada-2018/Antonio-Marin-Guitar-Making-Competition-2018/Rules/

Today was a very active day for the festival, the first round of the Antonio Marin Guitar-making competition and the concert by students of Summer Arts who have been here for three weeks studying guitar with some great teachers. Here are the guitar-makers who were selected to continue tomorrow in the second round of trials:

Yulong Guo – China
William Gonzalez – Estados Unidos
Rafael Fuentes – España
Samuel Perez – España
Hans van Velzen – Holanda
Gaoyi – China
Mijail (Michael) Kharash – Rusia
Valerio Licari – Italia
Hironori Fukuda – Japon
Yan lei- China
Fernando Moreno – España
Francisco Alba – España
Donatella Salvato – Italia

Once again I am pleased with the showing by Granada makers; Francisco Muñoz Alba is from Granada, Mijail Kharash and Valerio Licari have been living and working in Granada for many years now.

Alexei Khorev demonstrating the guitars.

The true stars of the show.

Participants and jury.