17th Annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival

Congratulations to the 17th Annual Guitar Competition Winners

Main competition

First Place Winner Nicolas Emilfork Diaz

Nicolas Emilfork Diaz earned a Performance Degree in Classical Guitar and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Performance, both with maximum honors at the Universidad de Chile under Ernesto Quezada. He earned a Master of Music in Performance at The University of Texas at Austin under Adam Holzman and is currently working towards a Doctor of Musical Arts.

Emilfork Diaz has won prizes at numerous competitions. In 2002 he won second place at I Concurso Internacional Ernesto Rosson del Pino. In 2005 he took third place in the VI Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Liliana Pérez Corey and came in second at the Ciutat d’Elx International Competition in Spain. In 2013 he won third place at the Colorado International Guitar Competition. He also won third place at the Southern International Guitar Competition in 2015. In 2016 Emilfork Diaz earned third place at the Columbus International Guitar Competition, Lone Star International Guitar Competition and Louisville International Guitar Competition and fourth place at the Nancy L. Cooke Memorial International Guitar Competition and ECU International Guitar Competition. In 2017 he received the fourth prize at the Colorado International Guitar Competition, Sierra Nevada Guitar Competition and Florida International Guitar Competition and third prize at the ECU International Competition.

Emilfork Diaz has appeared in concerts in Chile, Argentina, France, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Morocco and United States. He has performed as a soloist with the Universidad de Santiago de Chile Classical Orchestra (USACH) and the Marga-Marga Orchestra. He has played at a number of festivals including Festival Internacional de Guitarra Entrecuerdas, Chile; VIII Festival Internacional de Guitarra, Ciutat d’Elx, Spain; Primera Temporada de Ni de Concerté Clasics en Santa María de Solanes, Cataluña, Spain ;International Festival Guitarras de América, Chile and the International Festival Les Cordes Pincées, Morocco.

Second Place Winner Hector Rodriguez

Hector Javier Rodriguez Santos enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher, having given masterclasses and performances in Puerto Rico, Mexico and the United States.

As a soloist, Rodriguez’s career is highlighted by several events: he was first place winner in the University of Texas-Pan American Guitar Competition in 2009, and second place winner in the Houston Guitar Competition in 2010 (Classical Minds). In 2014, he received the Leo Brouwer Prize at Festival Internacional de Guitarra del Noreste in Saltillo, Mexico. Rodriguez was the recipient of the Ocelotl Award by Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila 2010, for Best Artistic Project.

Rodriguez has studied in masterclasses with Pavel Steidl, Remi Boucher, Paul Galbraith, Graham Lea Cox, Manuel Barrueco, Maximo Diego Pujol, Petar Jankovic, Eduardo Garrido, Rene Izquierdo, Julio Cesar Oliva, Eduardo Fernandez, Costas Cotsiolis, Celso Machado, Irina Kulikova, Denis Azabagic, Lukasz Kuropaczewski, Alberto Rodriguez, Matthew Hinsley, Grisha Goryachev, Nigel North, Roland Dyens, Johannes Möller, Carlos Barbosa Lima and Leo Brouwer.

An advocate for new music for guitar ensemble, Rodriguez has arranged several works with the particular aim of replicating the sound of a symphony orchestra. His arrangements for guitar ensemble have been performed in concerts and festivals in Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United States, Panama and Lebanon.

Rodriguez holds a Bachelor of Musical Arts in Classical Guitar Performance from the Escuela Superior de Música Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila (Saltillo, Coahuila, México). He holds a Master of Music from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and is currently a Doctorate of Music student at UNT. His primary guitar instructors are Thomas Johnson, Ivan Rijos, Manuel Barrueco, Martín Madrigal and Manuel Lopez.

Third Place Winner (Tie) Dan Kyzer

Dan Kyzer began studying under Dr. John Ingwerson at Hinds Community College during his senior year of college. After finishing his undergraduate work at the University of Southern Mississippi with Dr. Nicholas Ciraldo, Kyzer earned a scholarship to the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA where he studied with the world-renowned guitarist Eliot Fisk. While in Boston, Kyzer maintained a studio at the Boston School of Guitar and performed with groups like the Boston Metro Opera and MIT Women’s Chorus. He also played concerts at the Boston Public Library, Allston-Brighton UMC, Wood’s Hole Library and Williams Hall at NEC. After earning a Master of Music with Academic Honors from NEC, Kyzer began doctoral studies at the University of North Texas under the tutelage of Thomas Johnson. Kyzer serves on the faculty at Mountain View College and is the Director of the Mountain View College Guitar Festival, now in its fourth year. He has been asked to re-establish the guitar program at North Central Texas College and regularly performs outreach concerts and community performances with the Fort Worth Classic Guitar Society. His chamber music collaborations include Fort Worth Opera, Orpheus Chamber Singers, and UNT University Singers. Kyzer holds prizes from several national guitar competitions including first prizes from the New Orleans International Guitar Festival and Southern Guitar Festival. In February 2018, Kyzer toured the Midwest and Southeast including concerts at Oklahoma City University, Louisiana Tech, and the University of Southern Mississippi. Upcoming projects include an ensemble performance on the Allegro Guitar Series in Dallas, and a CD recording.

Third Place Winner (Tie) Bernardino Rodriguez

Bernardino Rodriguez was born in Xalapa, Mexico in 1990. He graduated with honors from “Biennio Specialistico in chitarra” at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica “Jacopo Tomadini” of Udine, Italy, where he studied with Prof. Stefano Viola. He continued his studies in the Faculty of Music at the “Universidad Veracruzana” in Mexico with professors Cutberto Córdova and Álvaro Hernández.

Rodriguez has played in national and international music festivals in countries like Mexico, Italy, Spain and Austria. He has taken masterclasses with professors such as David Russell, Álvaro Pierri, Joaquín Clerch, Stefano Grondona, Marco Tamayo, Pablo Márquez, Carles Trepat, Giampaolo Bandini, Marcin Dylla, Pablo Garibay, Mauro Zanatta, Frèdèric Zigante, Rèmi Boucher, David Martínez and Carlos Bonell. Rodriguez took courses with professor Paolo Pegroraro at the “Francisco Tárrega” Guitar Academy of Pordenone, Italy, and with the Maestro Oscar Ghiglia at the “Accademia Chigiana” of Siena, Italy. He toured with the Orquesta Nacional de Guitarras “Alfonso Moreno” and the Orquesta de Guitarras de Xalapa-SEV, which performed numerous concerts throughout Mexico. He has performed as a soloist with the “Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil del Estado de Veracruz” and “Orquesta de Guitarras de Xalapa”. He was awarded the “Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes – CONACULTA” in the categories of Interpretation and Young Creators, and the “Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes – FONCA” in the Performing Arts category. Rodriguez is currently studying in the “Segovia Guitar Academy” of Pordenone, Italy with professors Adriano Del Sal and Paolo Pegoraro, and in the “Universität Mozarteum” of Salzburg, Austria with prof. Eliot Fisk.

Audience Choice Award Nicolas Emilfork Diaz

Youth Division II (15-18 year-olds)
First = Sean McCrary
Second = Eliza Balmuth
Third = Aaron Baldauf

Youth Division I (11-14 year-olds)
First = Mei Yin Steadman
Second = Zara Terrazas-Graham
Third = Eliza Barr