Jury
Aniello Desiderio – Italy
At the age of eight, Aniello Desiderio performed in public for the first time, displaying such outstanding gifts that music critics started to speak of him as an “enfant prodige”, “wunderkind”, “a genius”, “the Orpheus of the guitar”, “a guitarist of the century”, and...
Zoran Dukic – Croatia
“As a master of his instrument, Dukic demonstrated spectacular virtuosity over and over again together with a great maturity and powerful inspiration.” Il Gazzettino, Italy Zoran Dukic is one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of our time. His concert...
George Vassilev – Bulgaria/Switzerland
Known for his unique artistry, musical approach and instrumental mastery, guitarist George Vassilev was born in Varna, Bulgaria. He began guitar studies with Lijuben Haralambiev in his home town. In 1987, thanks to a grant from the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, he...
Pavel Ralev – Bulgaria/United Kingdom
Described by John Williams as “a poet of the guitar,” Bulgarian classical guitarist Pavel Ralev is establishing a strong presence on the international concert platform. In 2023, he was conferred as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, London, in recognition of...
Antonio Pompilio – Italy
After graduating with full marks and honours at Monopoli Conservatory of Music (master’s degree) under the guidance of Goran Listes and Marco Piperno, he began studying at Accademia Strata in Pisa, Italy, with Aniello Desiderio, who awarded him two scholarships as one...
Stefan Trifan – Romania
One of the most prominent guitar teachers in Romania, Stefan Trifan, born in the small town of Roman, started playing the violin at age 6. He discovered the classical guitar by the age of 15 and began studying it professionally at the Ionel Țiganus class in the Fine...
Stela Miteva-Dinkova – Bulgaria
Born into a family of musicians, Stela Miteva-Dinkova began studying the guitar with her father, Blagoi Mitev. In 1984, she was accepted in the Music High School, Dobri Hristov, located in Varna...
Rossen Balkanski – Bulgaria
Rossen Balkanski was born in 1968. In 1995 he was admitted at the State Academy of Music in Sofia in the guitar class of Emil Saev. He worked as a teacher of guitar at a music school and as a teacher of...
Stolina Dobreva – Bulgaria
Stolina Dobreva (Phd) was born in 1970 in Bourgas, Bulgaria. She finished the National School of Music “Lyubomir Pipkov” in Sofia, Bulgaria and graduated guitar and pedagogy in the “Staatliche Hochschule...
Plamen Markov – Bulgaria
Plamen Markov performs as a conductor at national and international music festivals. He conducted the philharmonic orchestras in Varna, Pleven, Vidin, Shumen and various chamber formations. He made concert tours in Hungary, Spain, Germany, Greece and France. Since...
Andrei Pitu – Romania
Andrei Pițu graduated from the “Ștefan Luchian” High School in Botoșani and is currently pursuing his studies at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart. His journey with the guitar began in the 3rd grade under the guidance of Carmen Cojocariu,...
Svilen Voychev – Bulgaria
Svilen Voychev is a graduate of NUI "Dobri Hristov" - Varna in Sevdalin Stefanov's guitar class. In the period 2018-2023. obtained the degrees of "Bachelor" and "Master" in the specialty "Classical Guitar" at "HEMU" Vaud, Valais, Freiburg in Switzerland with teacher...
Stephanos Demetriou-Cyprus
Stephanos Demetriou was born in the city of Limassol, Cyprus. From an early age, he was inspired by the classical guitar and began to learn on his own as well as with various teachers. Subsequently, he continued his education in Sofia, under Assoc. Dr. Rosen...
Sevdalin Stefanov – Bulgaria
Sevdalin Stefanov was born in 1972 in the town of Dobrich. He started playing the guitar in 1981. After that he studied successively with Trendafil Mihailov from 1983 to 1985; Valentin Valchev from 1985 to 1990 and Lyuben Haralambiev from 1990 to 1992. In the period...
Ilin Papazyan – Bulgaria
Ilin Papazyan – Ninio is a native of the city of wind and princes - Sliven. He took his first steps in music at the age of 12, when he started taking classical guitar lessons at the "Guitar School" with teacher Naiden Doinov. A little later, he became interested in...