Finals of the International Classical Guitar Competition with Luis Alejandro García Pérez, Francisco Luís, Nikica Polegubic, Marko Topchii and Io Yamada
Sunday 23nd October / 5pm
Auditorium - Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg & Online Stream
Free entrance
Luis Alejando García Pérez (Spain)
PROGRAM
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Suite no. 2 for lute, BWV 997, Fugue
A. Tansman (1897-1986)
Variations on a theme by Scriabin
Born in 1993, Luis Alejandro García Pérez is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music of the Canary Islands as well as the Catalonia College of Music and studied with various internationally renowned teachers such as Leo Brouwer, David Russell, Zoran Dukíc, Pedro Mateo, Carlo Marchione and Àlex Garrobé.
He won more than 30 international prizes, among them the "José Tomás – Villa de Petrer" Prize, the "El Primer Palau" Prize, the “Fernando Sor” International Guitar Competition, the "Andrés Segovia" Prize of Linares or the Viseu International Guitar Competition.
His career has led him to play in prestigious venues such as the Musikverein (Vienna), the Palau de la Música Catalana (Barcelona) or the Teatro Monumental (Madrid) and he has played, besides Europe, in the United States as well as several Latin American countries. Luis Alejandro García Pérez has also performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the National Radio and Television Orchestra of Spain, the Gran Canaria Philarmonic Orchestra or the OS del Vallès, under conductors such as Karel Mark Chichon, Óliver Díaz, Xavier Puig and Alessandro Palumbo. He has made numerous recordings, including his latest solo album "Reflejos" (2021) on JSM Guitar Records, and is a member of the Canary Guitar Quartet and the Dalek Dúo.
Luis Alejandro García Pérez plays Vicente Carrillo guitars and endorses Knobloch Strings.
Francisco Luís (Portugal)
PROGRAM
M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968)
Rondo, Op. 129
J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Andante from Sonata no. 2 for solo violin, BWV 1003
A. Tansman (1897-1986)
Passacaille
Francisco Luís was born in 1998 and started his studies at the age of 10 at the Conservatory of Caldas da Rainha and the Music School of the National Conservatory in Lisbon. He then went to the Netherlands where he completed a bachelor’s degree with Carlo Marchione at the Maastricht Conservatorium and a master’s degree with Zoran Dukíc at the Royal Conservatory of Den Haag.
At the young age of 24, he has played in numerous renowned halls around Europe. In 2015, he interpreted the emblematic Concierto de Aranjuez by J. Rodrigo with the symphonic orchestra from the National Conservatory of Lisbon at the Cinema São Jorge. Other venues include the Musikverein (Vienna), the Casa da Música (Porto), the Palácio da Ajuda (Lisbon) or the Parkstad Limburg Theaters (Heerlen).
Francisco Luís has been awarded at more than 30 international competitions, including 13 first prizes, among them the 1st prize at the Harmonia Chordis International Guitar Festival, the 1st prize at the International Guitar Festival of Guimaraes or the 1st prize at the International Guitar Festival of Amarante. He also became the first and only Portuguese guitarist member of the Eurostrings 2020-2021 program where he played concerts and gave masterclasses at some of the most important guitar festivals.
Nikica Polegubic (Croatia / Austria)
PROGRAM
L. Brouwer (*1939)
Tres Apuntes
F. Sor (1778-1839)
6 Airs from the Magic Flute, Op. 19
- Marche réligieuse
- Giun fa ritorno i Genÿ amici
F. Martin (1890-1974)
Quatre pièces brèves
I. Prelude
II. Air
III. Plainte
IV. Comme une Gigue
Born in 1996, Nikica Polegubic studied at the Rudolf Matz Music School in Zagreb, the Pavla Markovca Music Scholl in Zagreb and the University for Music and Performing Arts Graz (with Paolo Pegoraro).
He received numerous prizes and recognitions, including an award from the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia for excellent results in an artistic field, a scholarship from the city of Zagreb for outstanding achievements in an artistic field, as well as several 1st prizes such as at the Split Guitar Festival in Croatia or at the Guitar Art Festival Belgrade.
Nikica Polegubic performed as a soloist as well as a part of chamber ensembles in numerous countries such as Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Germany, Poland, Turkey, England or India. He participated in the concert “Majstori Sviraci” that features the best young musicians in Croatia and worked with Łukasz Kuropaczewski, one of the most renowned guitarists of today.
Marko Topchii (Ukraine)
PROGRAM
M. Ravel (1875-1937)
Sonatine, 1. Modere (arr. M. Topchii)
A. Tansman (1897-1986)
Passacaille
J. Rodrigo (1901-1999)
Toccata
Marko Topchii was born in 1991 and started to play the guitar with Volodymyr Homenyuk when he was four. He studied at the Kharkiv Conservatory under Volodymyr Dotsenko, at the Kyiv Tchaikovsky Music Academy under Yuri Aleksik and at the San Francisco Conservatory under Judicaёl Perroy.
Marko Topchii has won more than 100 awards worldwide. Among the most recent of his 50 first prizes are the LIV International Guitar Competition “Francisco Tarrega”, the Koblenz International Guitar Competition as well as the International Guitar Competition “Paris Guitar Foundation”.
He has performed among others at the Carnegie Hall in New York, the Yamaha Ginza Hall in Tokyo or the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow and regularly performs with orchestras. In 2016, he has recorded two albums with Fleur de Son Classics (Buffalo, NY) and Contrastes Records (Seville, Spain). In 2018, he recorded an album with the label Naxos as the winner of the “Michele Pittaluga” competition.
Marko Topchii uses strings by D’Addario and plays guitars by Julian Dammann and Jim Redgate.
Io Yamada (Japan / Germany)
PROGRAM
J. Dowland (1563-1626)
Prelude P. 98
B. Britten (1913-1976)
Nocturnal After John Dowland, Op.70
Born in 1995, Io Yamada started playing the guitar at age two. He studied at the Kyoto Horikawa Music School, the Tokyo College of Music (with Kiyoshi Shomura and Tsuneo Ema), the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna (with Alvaro Pierri) as well as the University for Music Franz Liszt Weimar (with Ricardo Gallén).
Io Yamada won a total of 17 awards, among them 7 first prizes, including the 1st prize at the International Guitar Competition Nürtingen, the 1st prize at the J.S. Bach International Guitar Competition in Tokyo and the 1st prize at the East-End International Guitar Competition in Tokyo. In 2018, he received a Rohm Music Foundation scholarship.
Besides regular live performances as a soloist as well as with different ensembles, Io Yamada released in 2018 his debut album “1.0 (one)” on the Japanese label Sylphide Records and is a member of the guitar trio “Hep-poco Dream” with Isana Akita and Imoto Kyota.