Summer Guitar Workshop Competitions

Solo Competition

The ECU Summer Guitar Workshop will hold its twenty-second solo guitar competition for college students and college graduates in the early stages of their concert careers. There will be three rounds, a preliminary round, a semifinal round and a final round. The competition is open to guitarists of all ages. College/professional participants will perform a fifteen-minute solo program of works of their own choice, which will be taken from the standard repertoire of the classic guitar. This program will be performed in its entirety in the final round and competitors will choose selections in the preliminary and semifinal rounds.

The semifinal and final rounds will be open to the public. The preliminary round will be closed.

Competitors must EMAIL a copy of your program to the workshop director prior to the beginning of the competition.

Collegiate/professional competitors may choose to only compete without participating in master classes for $150.00. This amount includes admission to all concerts and any workshop activities that you wish to audit. Payment in the amount of $150.00 will be submitted through the link on the festival website.  Full festival students who wish to compete in the open division may do so for a reduced fee of $75.00, also submitted through the festival website.

First prize will consist of $1,200 and, at the discretion of the jury, a paid recital at next year’s workshop. Second prize will be $600, third is $300, fourth is $200.

All competitors must have a valid email address. Foreign competitors without a valid US Social Security number will be subject to 30% withholding on any prizes won.

Youth Competition

For the sixteenth year, the ECU Summer Guitar Workshop will have a competition for middle and high school students who are full participants in the festival. This competition is open to workshop participants of high school age and younger who have not yet enrolled in college coursework. High school students who will graduate this spring are still eligible to compete in the pre-college division.

Two first prizes in this year’s pre-college competition will again be given, one for competitors 15-18 and one for the best competitor aged 14 and under. Second prizes will be given in each division as well. In the event of insufficient enrollment, both divisions will be combined and there will only be one youth division competition.

High School participants should prepare a program of 7 minutes maximum in duration. Middle school and younger participants should prepare a program of 5 minutes maximum in duration. This program will be performed in its entirety should the contestant be selected for the finals. Competitors will announce their pieces in the semifinal round. You may enroll for the youth competition when you apply for the festival. This is done through the link on the festival website. The fee to compete is an additional $75.