Michele Pittaluga International Classical Guitar Competition

The "Michele Pittaluga" International Classical Guitar Competition is an annual music competition for classical guitarists held in Alessandria, Italy. It was founded in 1968 and has earned an international reputation, entering membership of the World Federation of International Music Competitions - Geneve in 1981, ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) - New York in 2010 and UNESCO. It is the oldest active international classical guitar competition in Italy and one of the oldest in the world.

"Michele Pittaluga" International Classical Guitar Competition Premio Città di Alessandria
Michele Pittaluga Competition logo
Awarded for	Excellence in Classical Guitar Performance
Location	Alessandria
Country	Italy
Hosted by	Comitato Promotore del Concorso di Chitarra Classica "Michele Pittaluga - Città di Alessandria", President - Micaela Pittaluga, Artistic Director - Marco Tamayo
Formerly called	Città di Alessandria International Classical Guitar Competition
Reward(s)	1st Prize €10,000, Naxos Records contract, concert tour
First awarded	1968
Last awarded	2017
Website	www.pittaluga.org

Founders

The competition was started in 1968 by musicologist Dr. Michele Pittaluga (b. Jan 1915 - d. June 1995) as the "City of Alessandria Prize", to mark the 800th anniversary of the city. It gained early support from Andrés Segovia, who was the first Honorary President. Acting on his suggestion, Alirio Díaz was called to preside over the Jury for the first 30 editions, then acting as Artistic Director until the 40th edition, which is now overseen by Marco Diaz Tamayo. Alirio Díaz remained the Honorary President of the competition until his death in 2016.

History

In the beginning, the competition was dedicated to solo guitar. For the first years, i.e. from the 7th to 11th edition, the performance was accompanied by the orchestra indeed, but the concerto was only partially performed. The competition winner would perform it in its entirety during the final awards ceremony. From the 12th edition, the final performance was accompanied by piano and only the competition winner performed the concerto with the orchestra during the awards ceremony. Occasionally, the performance with orchestra was substituted by a string quartet. The finals have involved orchestral or chamber music since 1974. Since 1981, in response to the directives of the WFIMC, the program of the Competition has been extended to repertoires with orchestra or string quartet.

The competition was made up of two rounds i.e. Qualifying Round and Final Round, from the year of establishment to 1996. Since the 30th edition, the competition has been made up of three rounds: Preliminary Round, Semi-Final Round, and Final Round.

After the death of Dr. Michele Pittaluga, in June 1995, the name of the competition was changed to "Michele Pittaluga International Guitar Competition - Premio Citta di Alessandria" and now organized by the Organising Committee of the Classical Guitar Competition "Michele Pittaluga" (Comitato Promotore del Concorso di Chitarra Classica "Michele Pittaluga") that has, as part of its constitution, the commitment to spreading the knowledge of the guitar repertoire, promoting new talents and supporting initiatives in favor of these goals. His three children, Maria Luisa, Micaela, and Marcello Pittaluga have been running the competition ever since. Micaela Pittaluga became the Head of Organising Committee, President of the Competition, and Marcello became the permanent Secretary of the Jury. Also, the same year Competition has been placed under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic of Italy and under the Patronage of UNESCO Italian Commission.

The value of the first prize has risen over the years from Italian Lire 500000 to Euro 10000. Naxos Records contract and a concert tour became repetitive parts of the award. The Golden Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic awarded since 1997.

Correlated events

In 1997 a separate competition was created, entitled International Composition Competition for Classical Guitar "Michele Pittaluga" with the idea of expanding the contemporary guitar repertoire.

In 2014 the International Junior Talents Competition "Pittaluga Junior" was founded.

International Classical Guitar Competition "Michele Pittaluga - Premio Città di Alessandria"

Rules

• The International Jury consisting of at least seven members of different nationalities with an established reputation in the music world.
• Representatives of the Italian Ministry of Culture (MBC), the Italian Ministry of the Education, University, Research (MIUR) and those of the WFIMC of Geneva will be allowed to assist the Jury without taking part in the voting.
• The first prize cannot be shared. In special cases, the International Jury may award remaining prizes equally.
• The competition consist of three rounds, each of them are public.
• The final round played with orchestra or string quartet.
• All composition are performed from memory.
• Soloists of all nationalities are admitted to enter the competition, provided that they are less than 33 years old.
• 1st Prize winners of the past editions are not permitted to participate.

Winners

Source Official webpage

Edition	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize	Year
50	Marko Topchii	Ji Hyung Park	Giulia Ballarè	2017
49	Not Awarded	Andrea De Vitis	Marko Topchii	2016
48	Rovshan Mamedkuliev	Andrea De Vitis	Daniel Egielman	2015
47	Eren Süalp	Daniel Egielman	Gian Marco Ciampa	2014
46	Emanuele Buono	Ekachai Jearakul	Anton Baranov	2013
45	Lazhar Cherouana	Ekachai Jearakul	Pavel Kukhta	2012
44	Cecilio Perera	Kyuhee Park	Jonathan Bolivar	2011
43	Anabel Montesinos	Srdjan Bulat	Kyuhee Park	2010
42	András Csáki	Kyuhee Park	Thomas Viloteau	2009
41	Irina Kulikova	Juuso Nieminen	Srdjan Bulat	2008
40	Petrit Ceku	Dimitri Illarionov	Irina Kulikova	2007
39	Artyom Dervoed	Anabel Montesinos	Pablo Garibay	2006
38	Marlon Titre	András Csáki	Anabel Montesinos	2005
37	Adriano Del Sal	Anabel Montesinos	Not Awarded	2004
36	Flavio Sala	Juuso Nieminen	Antonio Escobar	2003
35	Not Awarded	Christian Saggese	Roman Viazovskiy	2002
34	Marcin Dylla	Roman Viazovskiy	Graham Anthony Devine	2001
33	Goran Krivokapić	Giulio Tampalini	Hajime Nakamura	2000
32	Marco Tamayo	Goran Krivokapić	Ana Vidović	1999
31	Gaëlle Solal	Not Awarded	Mark Ashford Massimo Felici	1998
30	Lorenzo Micheli	Marcin Dylla	Reiko Sawada	1997
29	Francisco Bernier	Vincenzo Zecca	Andre Fischer Gordon O'Brien	1996
28	Filomena Moretti	Wang Yameng	Sara Gianfelici	1995
27	Federico Briasco	Sante Tursi Leopoldo Saracino	Dimitrios Dimakopoulos Franz Halasz	1994
26	Daisuke Suzuki	Salvatore Falcone	Stefan Jenzer	1993
25	Edoardo Catemario	Monica Paolini	Massimo Felici	1992
24	George Vassilev	Paolo Bersano	Angel Pedro	1991
23	Not Awarded	Gianluca Di Cesare	Pal Paulikovic Edoardo Marchese	1990
22	Remi Boucher	Stefano Raponi	Francis Laurent	1989
21	Fábio Zanon	Stefano Raponi	María Esther Guzmán Blanco	1988
20	Arturo Tallini	Per Skareng	Roberto Lambo	1987
19	Giuseppe Carrer Massimo Laura	Not Awarded	Guy Delhommeau Francesco Sorti	1986
18	Elena Papandreou	Lucio Dosso	Marco Carnicelli	1985
17	Rafael Jimenez Rojas	Edoardo Castanera	Marco Carnicelli	1984
16	Francesco Moccia	Elena Casoli	Aldo Rodriguez Delgado	1983
15	Not Awarded	Davide Ficco	Gabriel Garcia-Santos	1982
14	Leonardo De Angelis	Frédéric Zigante	Gilbert Clamens	1981
13	Not Awarded	Stefano Cardi	Stefano Viola	1980
12	Jurgen Schöllman	Flavio Cucchi	Roland Dyens	1979
11	Stefano Grondona	Claudio Passarotti	Piero Bonaguri	1978
10	Kazuhito Yamashita	Domenico Salvati	Ryuhei Kabayashi	1977
9	Asamu Yamaguchi	Jukka Savijoki	Domenico Salvati	1976
8	Not Awarded	Domenico Salvati	Not Awarded	1975
7	Cheryl Lesley Grice	Constantin Cotsiolis	Not Awarded	1974
6	Not Awarded	Constantin Cotsiolis	Maurizio Colonna	1973
5	Walter Feybli	Andrés Martì	John Clark	1972
4	Guillermo Fierens	Peter Segal	Andrés Martì	1971
3	Not Awarded	Giorgio Oltremari	Miguel Barberà	1970
2	Betho Davezac	Not Awarded	Linda Calsolaro	1969
1	Not Awarded	Leo Witoszynskyj	Alois Mensik	1968

Jury

Source Official website

Edition	President (H - Honorary, M - in memoriam)	Members	Secretary	Year
50	Carlo Marchione	Micaela Pittaluga, Qing He, Doron Salomon, Guillem Pérez-Quer, Franz Halasz, Marco Diaz Tamayo	Marcello Pittaluga	2017
49	Ricardo Iznaola, H M Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Xu Bao, Berta Rojas, Ignacio Rodes, Hugues Navez, Luigi Attademo	Marcello Pittaluga	2016
48	Augustin Léon Ara, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Michael McMeeken, Tania Chagnot, András Csáki, Ichiro Suzuki, Aniello Desiderio	Marcello Pittaluga	2015
47	Anna Reid, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Francisco Bernier, Guillem Pérez-Quer, Kurt Hiesl, Eleftheria Kotzia, Massimo Delle Cese	Marcello Pittaluga	2014
46	Antón García Abril, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Michael Andriaccio, Joanne Castellani, Bernard Maillot, Eduardo Fernández, Lorenzo Micheli	Marcello Pittaluga	2013
45	Frédéric Zigante, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Stein-Erik Olsen, Thomas Heck, Bernard Maillot, Alfonso Montes, Paolo Ferrara	Marcello Pittaluga	2012
44	Laura Oltman, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Norbert Kraft, Michael Newman, Thomas Müller-Pering, Shin-Ichi Fukuda, Andrea Morricone, Massimo Felici	Marcello Pittaluga	2011
43	María Isabel Siewers, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Michael McMeeken, Martha Masters, József Eötvös, Manana Doijashvili, Aniello Desiderio	Marcello Pittaluga	2010
42	Alberto Ponce, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Marcin Dylla, Tania Chagnot, Darko Petrinjak, Jukka Savijoki, Elena Zaniboni	Marcello Pittaluga	2009
41	Jakob Lindberg, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Erik Stenstadvold, Joanne Castellani, Fábio Zanon, Éric Pénicaud, Lorenzo Micheli	Marcello Pittaluga	2008
40	Antonio Biki Rodriguez, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Colin Cooper, Matanya Ophee, Sulamita Aronovsky, Pavel Steidl, Marco Diaz Tamayo, Nuccio D'Angelo	Marcello Pittaluga	2007
39	Marlaena Kessick, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Norbert Kraft, Zoran Dukić, Ricardo Gallén, Jhibaro Rodríguez, Leonardo De Angelis	Marcello Pittaluga	2006
38	Eli Kassner, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Ernesto Cordero, Danielle Ribouillault, Omar Cyrulnik, Eduardo Fernández, Ichiro Suzuki, Oscar Ghiglia	Marcello Pittaluga	2005
37	Ernesto Bitetti, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Krzysztof Pełech, Carlos Bonell, Olivier Chassain, Evangelos Boudounis, Carlo Marchione	Marcello Pittaluga	2004
36	Ichiro Suzuki, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Alice Artzt, David Tanenbaum, Corazón Otero, Tilman Hoppstock, Giuseppe Briasco, Lucio Matarazzo	Marcello Pittaluga	2003
35	Alberto Ponce, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Wanda Palacz, Leo Witoszynskyj, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Eduardo Fernández, Marco Diaz Tamayo, Paolo Pegoraro	Marcello Pittaluga	2002
34	Giorgio Vidusso, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Rémi Boucher, Eliot Fisk, Cecilia Rodrigo, Vladimír Mikulka, Hubert Käppel, Oscar Ghiglia	Marcello Pittaluga	2001
33	Ron Purcell, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Magnus Andersson, Angelo Gilardino, Roberto Aussel, Sonja Prunnbauer, Shin-Ichi Fukuda	Marcello Pittaluga	2000
32	Carel Harms, H Alirio Díaz, M Alexandre Lagoya	Micaela Pittaluga, Rémi Boucher, Penny Phillips, Marlos Nobre, Rafael Iturri, Franz Halasz	Marcello Pittaluga	1999
31	Ignacio Yepes, H Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Dušan Bogdanović, Salvatore Cosentino, Ismael Barambio, Godelieve Monden, Oscar Ghiglia	Marcello Pittaluga	1998
30	Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Walter Feybli, Arturo Tallini, Eulogio Dávalos Llanos, Elena Papandreou, Peter Päffgen	Marcello Pittaluga	1997
29	Alirio Díaz	Micaela Pittaluga, Chen Zhi, Federico Ermirio, Guillermo Fierens, Betho Davezac, Danielle Ribouillault	Marcello Pittaluga	1996
28	Alirio Díaz	Guido Margaria, Colin Cooper, Federico Ermirio, Alvaro Company, Lena Kokkaliari, Frédéric Zigante	Marcello Pittaluga	1995
27	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Federico Ermirio, Guillermo Fierens, Francesco Rizzoli, Frédéric Zigante	Alberto Scaglia	1994
26	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Federico Ermirio, Graciela Pomponio, Gerassimos Miliaresis, Carlo Ghersi		1993
25	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Federico Ermirio, Corazón Otero, Costas Cotsiolis, Bruno Mattioli		1992
24	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Althers Garet, Rodrigo Riera, René Bartoli, Gianluigi Fia		1991
23	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Alberto Ponce, Luiz Zea, Ernesto Cordero, Salvatore Pirrello		1990
22	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Antonio Ruiz-Pipó, Guillermo Fierens, Leo Brouwer, Mauro Storti, Giuliano Balestra		1989
21	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Henry Dorigny, Alvaro Company, Ako Ito, Leonardo De Angelis		1988
20	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Inocente Carreño, Guillermo Fierens, Antonio Crivellaro, Linda Calsolaro		1987
19	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, América Martínez Serrano, María Luisa Anido, Frans Van de Ven, Armando Marrosu		1986
18	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Rocio Herrero, Alvaro Company, Óscar Cáceres, Carlo Palladino		1985
17	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Corazón Otero, Jovan Jovicich, Antonio Crivellaro, Angelo Amato		1984
16	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Corazón Otero, Augustin Léon Ara, Bruno Mattioli, Ruggero Chiesa	Guido Ottria	1983
15	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Aldo Minella, Karl Scheit, Alexandre Tansman, Pieter van der Staak	Guido Ottria	1982
14	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Carlo Mosso, Antonio Lauro, Antonio Crivellaro, Gordon Crosskey	Guido Ottria	1981
13	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Carlo Mosso, Bruno Mattioli, Betho Davezac, Barbara Polášek	Guido Ottria	1980
12	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Carlo Mosso, Mario Gangi, Antonio Crivellaro, Arminda Villa-Lobos	Guido Ottria	1979
11	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Carlo Mosso, Enrique Franco, Hans Fazari, Ruggero Chiesa	Guido Ottria	1978
10	Alirio Díaz, H Joaquín Rodrigo	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Carlo Mosso, José Tomás	Guido Ottria	1977
9	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Felice Quaranta, José Tomás, Carlo Cammarota, John W. Duarte	Guido Ottria	1976
8	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Felice Quaranta, José Tomás, Oscar Ghiglia, Pieter van der Staak	Guido Ottria	1975
7	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Felice Quaranta, José Tomás, Giacomo Saponaro, John W. Duarte, Aldo Minella, Guido Margaria	Guido Ottria	1974
6	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Felice Quaranta, Aldo Minella, Giacomo Saponaro, John W. Duarte	Guido Ottria	1973
5	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Robert J. Vidal, Felice Quaranta, Aldo Minella, Giacomo Saponaro	Guido Ottria	1972
4	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Giorgio Pestelli, Felice Quaranta, Aldo Minella, Giacomo Saponaro, Renato Cocito	Guido Ottria	1971
3	Alirio Díaz	Michele Pittaluga, Giorgio Pestelli, Felice Quaranta, Aldo Minella	Guido Ottria	1970
2	Alirio Díaz, H Andrés Segovia	Michele Pittaluga, Giorgio Pestelli, Piero Rattalino, Aldo Minella, Luigi Migliazzi, Gigi Marsico	Ennio Bassi	1969
1	Alirio Díaz, H Andrés Segovia	Michele Pittaluga, Luigi Migliazzi, Piero Rattalino, Aldo Minella	Guido Margarita	1968

International Composition Competition for Classical Guitar "Michele Pittaluga"

Rules

• The International Jury consisting of at least five members of different nationalities with an established reputation in the music world.
• The first prize cannot be shared. In special cases, the International Jury may award remaining prizes equally.
• Each author shall be responsible for verifying the actual performability of the piece.
• Compositions entered for the contest must be unpublished and must never before have been performed in public.
• Composers of all nationalities and any age who have not won first prize in any of the previous editions are admitted to enter the competition.

Winners

Edition	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize	Year	Theme
11	Cat. A (Solo): Marco De Biasi, Cat. B (Duo): Ganesh Del Vescovo			2016	Guitar solo or duo
10	Luis Fernando Ochoa			2012	Guitar solo: a theme for the competition
9	Kang Kyung Mook	Marco De Biasi, Andrea Nosari	Fabio Mengozzi	2010	Guitar with string quartet
8	Franco Cavallone	Not Awarded	Gilbert Clamens, Tal Hurwitz	2008	Guitar duo or trio
7	Takahiro Sakuma	Maurizio Billi	Not Awarded	2006	Guitar with flute, harp or violin
6	Javier Farias	Marco Redaelli	Johanan Chendler	2004	Guitar solo
5	Marco Gammanossi	Carla Rebora	Éric Pénicaud	2002	Guitar trio
4	Not Awarded	Davide Luini	Massimo Ceccarelli	2000	Guitar and orchestra
3	Not Awarded	Francisco Cavallone	Naomi Sekiya	1999	Quartet with guitar or string quintet
2	Paola Brino	Annette Kruisbrink	Naomi Sekiya	1998	Guitar duo, trio or quartet
1	Alberto Colla			1997	Guitar solo

Jury

Edition	President (H - Honorarium)	Members	Year
11	Frédéric Zigante	Ricardo Iznaola, Simone Fontanelli, Davide Anzaghi, Gabriel Estarellas	2016
10	Paolo Ferrara	Marco Diaz Tamayo, Ana Gentile, Omar Cyrulnik, Artyom Dervoed, Francisco Bernier, Anabel Montesinos	2012
9	Antón García Abril	Marco Diaz Tamayo, Giovanni Podera, Gilberto Bosco, Brian Finlayson, Theodore Antoniou, Sérgio Assad	2010
8	Leo Brouwer	Federico Ermirio, Annette Kruisbrink, Éric Pénicaud, Davide Anzaghi, Feliu Gasull, Jaime Mirtenbaum Zenamon	2008
7	Ricardo Iznaola	Federico Ermirio, André Jouve, Miguel Patrón Marchand, Paolo Castaldi, Francisco Bernier, Naomi Sekiya	2006
6	Antón García Abril	Federico Ermirio, Leonard V. Ball, Costas Cotsiolis, Walter Krafft, Simone Fontanelli, Atanas Ourkouzounov	2004
5	Vittorio Fellegara, H Bruno Bettinelli	Federico Ermirio, Robert Beaser, Guillermo Fierens, Jean Balissat, Giovanni Podera, Anthony Girard, Félix Ibarrondo	2002
4	Bruno Bettinelli, H Goffredo Petrassi	Federico Ermirio, Robert W. Mann, Roland Dyens, Éric Gaudibert, Giorgio Ferrari, Ivan Vandor	2000
3	Luciano Chailly	Federico Ermirio, Jacqueline Fontyn, Alvaro Company, Carlo Florindo Semini, Jesús Villa Rojo	1999
2	Victor Ciuckov	Federico Ermirio, Dušan Bogdanović, Guillermo Fierens, Angelo Gilardino, Frédéric Zigante, Antón García Abril	1998
1	Luciano Chailly	Federico Ermirio, Alirio Díaz, Ernesto Cordero, Marlos Nobre	1997

International Junior Talents Competition "Pittaluga Junior"

Rules

• The International Jury consisting of at least five members of different nationalities with an established reputation in the music world.
• Only the first prize is awarded.
• The competition consist of single round, opened to the public.
• All composition are performed from memory.
• Soloists of all nationalities are admitted to enter the competition, provided that they are less than 17 years old.
• 1st Prize winners of the past editions are not permitted to participate.

Winners, Jury and editions

Edition	Winner	Jury President	Jury Members	Year
3	Tiange Wang	Gaëlle Solal	Micaela Pittaluga, Anabel Montesinos, Irina Kulikova, Cecilio Perera, Adriano Del Sal	2017
2	Urbaan Reiter	Cecilia Rodrigo	Micaela Pittaluga, Michael McMeeken, Isabelle Presti, Tania Chagnot	2015
1	Carlotta Dalia	Angela Colombo	Micaela Pittaluga, Marianne Granvig, Frédéric Zigante, Guillem Pérez-Quer	2014

See also

• International classical guitar competitions
• List of classical music competitions
• Classical guitar

External links

• Official website in English
• Official Facebook page
• Official Youtube channel