Due to widespread public health concern about the COVID-19 virus, we have postponed the June, 2020 Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. We plan to invite this year's scheduled artists to participate in our June 2021 Festival.

Regarding the 2020 James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition, we have changed the format of the Semi-Final Round to an all video round. Semi-Finalists' videos must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, June 5th, 2020. The date of the Final Round will be determined this Summer or Fall when more information is available about ongoing travel and assembly guidelines. To access updated Stroud Competition Semi-Final Round rules please click here.

As always, we wish you, your family, and our many colleagues and friends around the world: health, safety, fulfillment, and happiness.

Armin Kelly, Founder and Artistic Director
Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival

James Stroud, Founder
James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition

GUITARS INTERNATIONAL

Presents the 20th Annual

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival^®

Thursday, June 4 through Sunday, June 7, 2020

at and in cooperation with the

Cleveland Institute of Music

Jason Vieaux
guitar

Escher String Quartet

SoloDuo
guitars

Nigel North
lute

Petra Poláčková
guitar

Colin Davin
guitar

Emily Levin
harp

Daniel Lippel
guitar

Dashon Burton
bass baritone

Lynn McGrath
guitar

Guitar Festival About Artists' Profiles Stroud Youth Competition Schedule Donate Tickets Lodging & Museums Directions Reviews & News Contact

About the CICGF^®

[Among] two of the most important annual American classical guitar events

(Classical Guitar Magazine)

Please join us in welcoming this spring’s roster of world renowned artists and the James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition semi-finalists in a concentrated series of concerts, premieres, master classes, private lessons, lectures, and exhibits celebrating the classical guitar and art music: solo and ensemble, old and new.

The Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Please consider making a tax deductible DONATION to support our Festival events. Concert ticket sales cover less than one third the cost of bringing the worlds' finest classical guitarists, lutenists, and assisting artists to Northeast Ohio.

Most Festival events are open to guitarists of all ages and levels and to non-guitarists. Many events are free. There is no Festival registration requirement or registration fee.

Our reasons for presenting this Festival are several: (1) To entertain; (2) to educate; (3) to encourage deeper thought and discussion about how we listen to, perform, and evaluate fine music; (4) to nurture both new and old relationships, artistic and social; and, most important, (5) to facilitate shared moments of heightened awareness. For it is in live, heightened moments of musical magic in our experience—when art and chance coalesce; time stops; and egos dissolve—that often we become most mindful of our shared humanity.

I look forward to greeting many new and returning participants to this June's Festival.

Armin Kelly, Founder and Artistic Director

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival ^®

Festival Artists 2020:

Jason Vieaux (USA), guitar - Grammy Award Winner
[He is] perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation..... (NPR)

Colin Davin (USA), guitar
[He is a] player with a virtuoso's technique, a deeply expressive musicianship, and a probing imagination. (American Record Guide)

SoloDuo (Italy), guitars
Unforgettable musicianship of the highest order..... (The Washington Post)

Nigel North (England), lute - Gramophone Award Winner
Perhaps he is the greatest performer on his instrument of all time..... (Birmingham Post)

Daniel Lippel (USA), guitar
Guitarist Dan Lippel was simply brilliant, knowing exactly when to thrust above the string quartet and when to melt into its textures. (Boston Musical Intelligencer)

Petra Polácková (Czech Republic), guitar
[Her] playing was so technically secure and musically insightful, it was unimaginable that anything she played could possibly be difficult. (Cleveland Classical)

Lynn McGrath (USA), guitar with spoken word
[W]onderful timing, poise, wit, and grace…. (Soundboard)

Escher String Quartet (USA)
[E]loquent, full-blooded playing.... The four players offer a beautiful blend of individuality and accord. (BBC Music Magazine)

Emily Levin (USA), harp
Emily Levin was a standout. Levin...drew nuanced timbres and textures while making the mechanics of her instrument disappear. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Dashon Burton (USA), bass baritone - Grammy Award Winner
The solo portions were sung by bass-baritone Dashon Burton, whose dark, velvety voice, perfect throughout his range, was suffused with emotion.... (The Reading Eagle)

TBD, Master Guitar Maker
I have played Kolya Panhuyzen's beautiful cedar guitar for over 25 years now. It is the finest instrument I have ever played.... (Laura Young)

James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition (USA)
Twelve to fifteen semi-finalists

Childbloom Youth Ensemble (USA), guitars
Brian Kozak, Director

Suzuki Youth Ensemble (USA), guitars
Robert Gruca, Director

Mixon Hall

Additional Support Provided By:

The Augustine Foundation
Alpha Graphics
Azica Records
Bam l'Original Cases
ClevelandClassical.com
Cleveland Chamber Music Society
Cleveland Scene
David W. Hershberger
Friends of CICGF
Glidden House
Jonathan Wentworth Ltd.
Les Delices
Pat Kilkenny
Rodgers Tuning Machines
The Plain Dealer
This is Classical Guitar
Thompson Hine LLP
WCLV 104.9 FM
WCPN 90.3 FM

About the CICGF®

About the CICGF^®