Classical Guitar News & Updates

April 23, 2021

NEW: Michael Cadiz (Austria) - Torres/Romanillos Model, spruce soundboard, Madagascar sides and back. This is a jewel of a concert guitar: Charming, deep, rich, clear, focused, traditional, musical sound; quick responsive dynamic range; unusually wide pallet of color and attack; strong fundamental tones throughout all registers; excellent balance across the strings; very even note to note up and down the strings; eye popping materials, visual aesthetics, and workmanship; in all ways a tremendous value in an easy to play, world class classical guitar...

March 25, 2021

Just Arrived: A new 2021 Achim Peter Gropius double top classical guitar. German master guitar maker Achim Gropius is one of Europe's premiere makers of fine individually handmade classical guitars. His signature sound is warm, very focused, powerful, and round - smooth dense trebles, mid range, and bass with impressive depth of sound. This concert guitar responds particularly fast to both subtle and large changes in color and attack...

March 14, 2021

Second Annual

JAMES STROUD CLASSICAL GUITAR COMPETITION:

FIRST PRIZE $10,000.00

Open to ages 14-18, US residents only.

The 2021 Stroud Youth Competition Semi-Finalists have been announced. Good luck to you all! (Learn more).

The James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition is presented as part of the 2021 Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival.

February 19, 2021

Join Us: Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival May 21 - June 18.

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

Robert Gruca (USA), guitar
Robert Gruca is a brilliant player with gorgeous tone and a flawless sense of rhythm. (Audaud.com)

Drew Henderson (Canada), guitar
Drew is an amazing guitarist, recording engineer, and video producer. (This is Classical Guitar)

Ji Yeon Kim (Republic of Korea), guitar
Talented, sensitive...brilliant... (Calgary Herald)

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)

Duo Melis (Spain and Greece), guitars
Duo Melis' playing was technically superb, musically convincing, and demonstrated fantastic ensemble. (Soundboard)

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

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)

James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition (USA), guitars
Four Finalists will perform and awards will be announced.

John Holmquist

January 19, 2021

Farewell sweet prince: John Holmquist - wonderful human being, one of the world's truly great artist/musician/classical guitarists, teacher, husband, father, and cherished friend to many...

December 9, 2020

JUST ARRIVED: 2020 Joshia de Jonge Anniversary Model double top classical guitar. This exceptional concert instrument is a magnificent example of refined musicality, materials, and craft - simply put, a singular masterpiece. The concert guitars of master guitar maker Joshia de Jonge combine northern European traditional tonal beauty with the quick response and laser-like projection of the most successful, innovative contemporary guitars...

Crossrock Air Carbon Flight Case

December 1, 2020

NEW: Crossrock carbon fiber classical guitar flight case. This sleek, high impact resistant flight case is both very strong and very light due to its 100% carbon fiber hard shell. The entire case weighs only 5.5 pounds. Its plush padded interior includes a full body perimeter suspension system which provides further protection against drops and blows: All but the outer edge of a guitar's back floats above the case bottom while much of a guitar's soundboard floats below the case top...

Colin Davin & Jason Vieaux

Join
Grammy Winner JASON VIEAUX (USA)

CIM Co-Head COLIN DAVIN (USA)

In a Live Stream Concert

BACH ON THE GUITAR

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
2:00 p.m. US Eastern Time / 11 a.m. US Pacific Time
8 p.m. Central European Time

Purchase Tickets HERE.

All ticket proceeds in their entirety
benefit the artists.

November 4, 2020

NEW: 2020 Jeffrey R. Elliott (USA) Custom Concert Guitar. The classical guitars of Jeffrey R. Elliott are exceptional works of musical art - magnificent concert guitars possessing unsurpassed musical refinement, purity and beauty of sound: quick powerful warm singing trebles, firm deep resonant basses, a particularly broad palette of colors and evenness of sound. These much sought after instruments are also among the rarest of the rare contemporary concert guitars...

October 20,2020

View the Final Round performances and awards announcement of the 2020 James Stroud Classical Guitar Youth Competition HERE.

Congratulations to all four wonderful, accomplished Finalists: Aytahn Benavi (18), Texas; Patricia Hernandez (16), Florida; Ian Tubbs (15), Indiana; Eric Wang (16), California

"WEISS" - Petra Polácková

July 23, 2020

Congratulations to classical guitarist Petra Polácková (Czech Republic) on the release of her long awaited, much anticipated, musically extraordinary all Weiss debut C.D. You can order "WEISS" at guitar@petrapolackova.com

Learn more about Petra Polácková...

June 9, 2020

Review: Colin Davin & Jason Vieaux in a live online recital (June 6, 2020) -

Published on ClevelandClassical.com by Daniel Hathaway

After weeks of watching online streams of archived concerts and ad hoc performances from quarantined musicians’ living rooms and bedrooms, it was thrilling to be able to advertise, preview, and report on two real-time webcasts last Friday and Saturday that embraced high production values and addressed the persistent issue of how to compensate musicians for online services. Saturday afternoon’s joint recital by Colin Davin and Jason Vieaux was sponsored by the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, whose 2020 iteration, scheduled for that weekend at the Cleveland Institute of Music, vanished in the wake of the pandemic...

James Stroud, Competition Founder

June 17, 2020

Congratulations to the four 2020 James Stroud Classical Competition Finalists: Aytahn Benavi (Texas), 18; Patricia Hernandez (Florida), 16; Ian Tubbs (Indiana), 15; Eric Wang (California), 15.

May 4, 2920

Just arrived. New 2020 Alfredo Velazquez classical guitar. Alfredo Velazquez endows his classical guitars with both the elegant tonal qualities for which his father’s guitars are revered and the extended dynamic range sought by many contemporary performing artists. Alfredo Velazquez’s classic guitars are sought world wide for their deep, soulful, unusually pure tonal beauty, strong woody fundamental tones, excellent balance up and down and across the fingerboard, easy playability, beautiful physical symmetry, and superb materials and workmanship,,.

April 13, 2020

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

April 2, 2020

Expected this April: A pre-owned, one owner, custom Jeffrey R. Elliott spruce/CSA classical guitar. The classical guitars of Jeffrey R. Elliott are exceptional works of art - magnificent concert guitars possessing unsurpassed musical refinement, purity and beauty of sound: quick powerful warm singing trebles, firm deep resonant basses, a particularly broad palette of colors and evenness of sound. These much sought after instruments are also among the rarest of the rare contemporary concert guitars. Jeffrey Elliott closed his then fifteen year waiting list a number of years ago. We have been waiting for this particular guitar for more than eighteen years...

March 10, 2020

2020 James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition Semi-Finalists are Announced:

Out of a pool of forty-one youth competition applicants from around the USA fifteen have been selected to perform in the semi-final round of the James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition. Congratulations to all of you! We look forward to you joining us in Cleveland, Ohio June 4-7, 2020 for the semi-final and final rounds of the Competition which will be held at and in cooperation with the 20th annual Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Learn more...

March 1, 2020

Many thanks to this year's James Stroud Classical Guitar Youth Competition Preliminary Round Applicants (forty-one in all from around the USA) for sharing their videos with us. Their performances demonstrate a remarkable commitment of time, energy, study, talent, and most notably love of music and the classical guitar. This year's fifteen Semi-Finalists will be announced on or about March 15, 2020. The semifinal and final rounds of the Competition will take place June 4-7, 2020 at and in cooperation with the 20th annual Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival® and the Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland, Ohio. Learn more...

February 16, 2020

Just Arrived: A new satinwood/spruce Torres Homage by English master guitar maker Gary Southwell. Regarding this guitar's elegant concert voice: There is not much one can or probably should attempt to write about such a refined musical spectrum of color, dynamics, and articulation except that this instrument's deep smooth sound is exceptional in every way - play, listen carefully, enjoy...

February 16, 2020

Just Arrived: A new Daniele Chiesa (Spain) cedar top classical guitar. Chiesa's remarkably responsive cedar guitars are among the finest traditionally braced cedar top guitars it has been our pleasure to play or hear. Their lovely sound is warm, deep, somewhat darker than a spruce top guitar, but retains the broad color palette normally associated with a fine spruce instrument; these guitars are also quick to respond to a wide variety of right hand attacks. Add to these qualities wonderful depth and balance of sound, and a comfortable neck contour, and you have what we consider to be the finest value in an exceptional, world class, truly individually handcrafted concert guitar from Spain...

February 15, 2020

Just Arrived: A mint condition, as new, Gary Southwell (England) A Series classical guitar. This is Southwell's very impressive sounding innovative modern concert guitar. Its warm, round, very powerful, unusually pure, clear sound has its roots in 19th century antecedents such as Lacote and Panormo; however, its warmth, breadth of color, dynamic range and richness of sound are all twenty-first century.Acoustically this concert guitar benefits significantly from the maker's years of work with Julian Bream on the reproduction of the Rose Augustine Hauser I guitar...

February 15, 2020

Just Arrived: A pre-owned Cervantes (Mexico) P.E. Hauser high end student model classical guitar. This is a cleanly made, mint, as new, one owner instrument imported from Mexico by Alejandro Cervantes. The musical sound of this guitar is round, clear, responsive, and even in all registers. The neck contour and string action set up are very comfortable. In sum this guitar at this price represents a great value in a truly handmade (non-factory), high end, student model classical guitar...

January 10, 2020

James Stroud Classical Guitar Youth Competition

Video application deadline Saturday, February 15, 2020

$10,000.00 First Prize

James Stroud has established and generously funded this competition to help create opportunities for the next generation of classical guitarists age 14-18 residing in the United States. The semifinal and final rounds of this competition will take place at and in cooperation with the 20th annual Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival® and the Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland, Ohio. (Learn more)

December 20, 2019

20th annual Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. 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. Featured artists include...

December 24, 2019

Petra Polácková performs J.S. Bach's Chaconne in her new Guitars International H.D. video. A musician's musician, Petra Polácková began her classical guitar studies at the age of six. Since 2002 she has won six first prizes in international competitions and performed both solo and ensemble concerts to enormous critical acclaim. As a result of her competition and concert successes she has been invited to perform and teach at many of the world's most prestigious music festivals...

GUITARS INTERNATIONAL

Classical Guitar News & Updates