18th Annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival

Congratulations to the 18th Annual Guitar Competition Winners

Main competition

First Place Winner Mengya Tian

Mengya Tian was born in China. Under the guidance of her father, she began to learn classical guitar at the age of seven. She graduated from The Affiliated Middle School of Sichuan Conservatory of Music, China, in 2009. Tian earned her Bachelor of Music degree from School of Music, Suzhou University, China 2018. She has won prizes at the Hangzhou International Guitar Festival China, the Changsha International Guitar Festival China and the Instrumental Concerto Competition at the School of Music at Suzhou University. In addition to her performances in China, Tian performed at Columbus CSU Guitar Symposium 2016, GA, USA. She also has experience with different instruments, mainly “Fantasia para un gentilbombre” by Joaquin Rodrigo in Poly Concert Hall with Suzhou Orchestra, China 2016. Tian is studying at the University of Texas at Austin under Adam Holzman.

Second Place Winner Brendon Grabowski

Brendon Grabowski was born in Buffalo, New York. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. He has recently completed his Master’s of Music degree at the University of Texas at Austin. He has appeared in the finals of Appalachian guitar competitions and the Great Lakes Guitar Festival and competition. Gabrowski teaches at the Orpheus Academy of Music. He has performed throughout the United States and Canada.

Third Place Winner Ariel Alba

Ariel Eduardo Alba was born in Laredo, Texas. He started his music studies at Laredo Community College in the studio with Matthew Bishop and earned his Associate of Arts in Music. He completed his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio under the guidance of Matthew Dunne. Alba has performed in both the United States and Mexico, including a tour throughout central Mexico with Hector Gamaliel (tenor) and Alonso Julian (piano) during the summer of 2018. Alba composed the original score for the play “Los Héroes Inútiles” (The Useless Heroes) by Mexican playwright Guillermo Schmidhuber. Alba won an award for Composition and Performance of Original Score during the 31st Rafael Solana State Competition, held in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico in August 2011.

Fourth Place Winner Chris Unzicker

Chris Unzicker was born in Dallas and has been performing playing guitar since 2001 in various bands and as a solo musician. In 2014, while studying with professor Dan Hodan at Cedar Valley College, he earned the Best Classical Performer award. Later that year he would graduate with an Associate degree in Music Performance. While studying with Enric Madriguera at UT Dallas, Unzicker has attended several masterclasses from players such as Scott Tennant, John Dearman, Masatomo Tomikawa, Rodolfo Perez Berrelleza and Luis Alejandro Garcia. Unzicker performs with the UT Dallas Radiant Guitar Ensemble and appeared on the latest recording made in 2018. He has taught music professionally since 2013 and currently teaches guitar at Frisco School of Music and Performing Arts.

Audience Choice Award: Mengya Tian

Youth Division II (15-18 year-olds)
First = Riley Edwards
Second = Marina Delacruz
Third = Mei Yin Steadman

Youth Division I (11-14 year-olds)
First = Qianchen Qiu
Second = Nima Moin
Third = Abhi Gudipati