In just three years, the Altamira Hong Kong International Guitar Symposium/Competition has established itself as one of the most important events of its kind in Asia, and this year’s is shaping up as another winner. Taking place July 10–14 at the beautiful, modern Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts concert hall and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Amphitheatre, the five-day event will present a truly international lineup of outstanding players, including David Russell; Italy’s Solo Duo, Andrea de Vitis, and Aniello & Genaro Desiderio; Jesse Flowers and Ken Murray from Australia; American David Starobin; Germany’s Frank Bungarten, and a slew of Chinese performers, including Meng Su (a.k.a. Su Meng), Xu Tuo & Wang Ya Lun, Fan Shi Longm, and Chen Jia Ying; and others. British composer Steve Goss will premiere his Concerto for Theorbo and Strings (Matthew Wadsworth, theorbo), and Tan Dun will feature his Concerto for Pipa and Strings (Belle Shiu, pipa).
Besides the many concerts, there are also four levels of competition: Open, Senior, Intermediate, and Junior (June 30 is the deadline for entries!) with a nice list of cash and other prizes. Among the lectures are a talk/recital by Australia’s Alexandr Siboulski on the subject of the late composer-guitarist Phillip Houghton, and there will also be exhibits of guitars and products from a variety of companies.
For lots more information and competition rules, click here.
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Here’s the cool concert hall where much of the action takes place:
And here are videos of three of the performers: