Congratulations to the 21st Annual Guitar Competition Winners

Adult Competition

First Place Winner (Tie) Ana Maria Lordache and YunZhe Lin

Born in Bucharest, Ana Maria Iordache is one of her generation’s most outstanding Romanian classical guitarists. She is a laureate of multiple prestigious international guitar competitions, receiving first prize in the “Certamen Llobet,” “Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Madrid,” Festival Internacional “Arroyo de la Luz” (Spain), “Classical Guitar International Competition Sinaia – România,” ̈ Eduard Pamfil ̈, ̈ Maeştrii Chitarei ̈ (Romania). Ana Maria has appeared as a soloist throughout the United States, Europe (Romania, Spain, France, and Germany), and South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Mexico). At 14, she debuted with the Tirgu Mures Philharmonic at the International Classical Guitar Festival Tirgu Mures in Romania. Her work as a performer includes several chamber music projects: guitar duos, trios and quartets, and ensembles with other instruments (violin, flute, piano, and string quartet). In November 2019, she was featured in the performance of the Concierto Andaluz by Joaquin Rodrigo for the guitar quartet and orchestra at the first Alumni Congress of Alicante, Spain. She was also invited in several editions to perform for the “Science Lectures” program at the Centennial Hall (USA) for a public of approx. 2000 people. In 2017 Ana Maria released her debut album “Reverie,” recorded with the Romanian label E&E Music Production, where she presents some of the most renowned classical guitar works by A. Barrios Mangoré, M. Llobet, E. Granados, and I. Albéniz. Ana Maria began playing the guitar at six with Eugen Mang. She received her Bachelor’s in Music Performance at the National University of Music in Bucharest under the tutelage of Conf. Dr. Catalin Stefanescu- Patrascu. In June 2018, she graduated with honors “Cum Laude” from the Master in Classical Guitar Performance Alicante, Spain, a program where she studied with most acclaimed artists such as David Russell, Sergio Assad, Odair Assad, Manuel Barrueco, Pepe Romero, Ignacio Rodes, Ricardo Gallén. After receiving her second Master’s Degree from the University of Arizona, she began pursuing the title of Doctor of Musical Arts within the same university with Tom Patterson and artists in residence David Russell, Sergio, and Odair Assad.

YunZhe Lin is a classical guitarist originally from Shenzhen, China. He is working on his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music, where he studies with Dr. Nicholas Goluses. He holds a Performer’s Certificate from Eastman and is a Teaching Assistant in the Guitar Department, where he teaches fretboard harmony, guitar pedagogy, guitar history, and private lessons. YunZhe received his Master of Music degree and Performer Diploma from Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, where he studied with Maestro Ernesto Bitetti and taught as the Associate Instructor. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. Lin participated in numerous masterclasses with such world-renowned artists as Odair Assad, Marcin Dylla, Pablo Sainz Villegas, David Tanenbaum, Amadeus guitar duo, David Leisner, Jeremy Jouve, and Goran Krivokapic. In 2018, YunZhe received the Honorable Mention Award in Matinee Musicale Collegiate Scholarship Competition. In 2019, he won the Dennis Organ Tribute Award in the NSAL instrumental music competition and the Fourth Prize in the University of Louisville Guitar Solo Artist Competition. In 2022, YunZhe won the Eastman Guitar Concerto Competition for an outstanding performance of Mario Giuliani’s Guitar Concerto No.1, op. 30, and performed the work with the Eastman Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra. That same year, YunZhe was the semi-finalist in Baltimore International Guitar Competition and received the Third Prize in Chicago Guitar Festival and Competition, Second Prize in Boston Guitar Festival and Competition, Second prize in East Carolina Guitar Festival and Competition, and first prize in Canares International Music Competition Vienna. As an active performer, YunZhe has given many successful performances which were highly praised by audiences in both the United States and Asia.

Third Place Winner Alejandro Rodriquez Ruiz

Alejandro Rodriguez is a classical guitarist pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of North Texas. He recently earned a Professional Studies Diploma at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Grammy-winner guitarist Jason Vieaux and virtuoso Colin Davin. He completed his Master’s degree with Rene Izquierdo at UWM. During his time at CIM, Alejandro was part of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society and taught guitar at schools in the Cleveland area. Today he also teaches privately for schools within the Dallas ISD and is a teaching fellow at UNT. Alejandro took the 2nd prize and Audience Choice Award at the 2022 UT Dallas competition and placed 4th at the Houston Classical Guitar Festival and at the Chicago Guitar Festival that same year. Alejandro won the 2019 James Stroud Competition and took fourth place at the 2019 Appalachian State Solo Guitar Competition. He has performed at masterclasses with renowned guitarists like Jorge Caballero, Gabriel Bianco, Alvaro Pierri, Zoran Dukic, Aniello Desiderio, Raphaella Smits, and Adam Holzman, among others. His repertoire includes composers like Bach, Rodrigo, Ponce, and Dyens and South American composers like Villa-Lobos, Barrios, and Lecuona. Alejandro has also collaborated with flamenco musicians, displaying great versatility with the guitar.

Fourth Place Winner Chinnawat Themkumkwun

Chinnawat Themkumkwun is a classical guitarist from Thailand, recognized internationally for his passionate and inspired performances on stages worldwide. A winner of over ninety international competitions, including top prizes at the Taiwan International Guitar Competition and Hannabach International Guitar Competition in Augsburg, Germany, his most recent accomplishment is First Prize at the Boston International Guitar Competition in Massachusetts, USA. Drawn to the instrument from a young age, Chinnawat attended the guitar program at the College of Music, Mahidol University in his native Thailand, where he studied with Nalin Komentrakarn, Dr. Paul Cesarczyk, and Dr. Rattanai Bampenyou. At the preparatory college level, Chinnawat was awarded the Excellent Student Award with the highest GPA in his class and attained a Bachelor’s degree with First-class honors. In 2017 he was awarded the ASEA-Uninet scholarship (Ernst Mach grant) to complete his studies. He graduated with a Master’s degree and Postgraduate diploma from the prestigious Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria, under the supervision of Prof. Marco Tamayo and Prof. Eliot Fisk. Noted especially for his unique and imaginative playing style, Chinnawat thrives equally as a soloist and collaborative musician. He has appeared as a soloist with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra playing concertos by Rodrigo and Ponce. Since then, Chinnawat has performed successfully with concerts in North America, Europe, and Asia. He is also an in-demand instructor with his own studio that combines traditional teaching methods with online courses, preparing many rising guitar talents for auditions and competitions. Chinnawat Themkumkwun has been the official Hannabach Artist since 2022.

Composer Award:

Chinnawat Themkumkwun

Martha and John Nye Audience Choice Award:

Ana Maria Iordache

Youth Division II (15-18 year-olds)

First Place Mei Yin Steadman
Second Place Allen Liu
Third Place Felix Benki

Youth Division I (11-14 year-olds)

First Place Wyatt Green
Second Place (Tie) Brendan Gho and Miriam Wells

Featuring Performances by