23rd Annual Texas Guitar Competition and Festival
Congratulations to the 23rd Annual Guitar Competition Winners
Adult Competition
First Place Winner Kyle Khembunjong
Kyle Khembunjong began his advanced guitar studies at an early age under renowned Colombian guitarist Ricardo Cobo at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Kyle received an Associate of Arts degree from the College of Southern Nevada High School, followed by a Bachelor’s Degree in Guitar Performance and a Music Technology Minor Certificate from UNLV. Kyle is currently pursuing his Master’s of Music in Classical Guitar Performance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with Cuban guitar virtuoso René Izquierdo. Since his first solo concert at age 15, he has won First Prize at the 2024 Florida State University Open Division Guitar Competition and the 2024 Domaine Forget Academy Guitar Competition; Second Prize at the 2024 University of Louisville Open Division Guitar Competition; Third Prize at the 2024 Dallas Texas International Guitar Competition; and was an international Finalist at the 2023 Music International Grand Prix Adult String Competition.
Second Place Winner Flavius Wagner
Flavius Wagner began playing music at the age of 4 in Bühl Baden-Württemberg. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a pre-college student at the University for Music and Arts Stuttgart to study music. Since 2022 he has been pursuing his Bachelor degree while under the tutelage of Professor J. Monno at Stuttgart. He was awarded first prize at the Chicago Guitar Festival as well as the Sarajevo International Guitar Festival. He has also won awards at the IYC senior competition at the GFA, as well as numerous competitions in Europe and Asia. Performing at various solo recitals, he has performed in concert across North America and throughout Europe. He is also a passionate chamber musician.
Third Place Winner Hayoung Lee
Hayoung Lee was born in South Korea in 1999 and began studying the guitar at the age of 16. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Seoul National University in 2022 and completed her Master’s degree in Artistic Education in Interpretation and Performative Research of Spanish Music at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid (RCSMM) in 2024. She has won first prize and the Audience Award at the XXIV International Guitar Competition “COMARCA EL CONDADO” (Spain), Second Prize at the XI Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga Guitar Competition (Spain), the 50th International Guitar Competition “Fernando Sor” (Italy), and the VI International Guitar Competition of Madrid (Spain). Additionally, she received an Honorable Mention and the Audience Award at the XXVI Guitar Festival “Ciutat d’Elx” (Spain), as well as Third Prize at the 11th Alhambra International Guitar Competition for Young Performers (CIGAJ).
Fourth Place Winner Alejandro Rodriguez Ruiz
Alejandro Rodriguez was born in Mexico City and has been studying in the United States since 2013. He has a BA from Texas A&M, a Master of Music from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a Professional Studies diploma from Cleveland Institute of Music. He is currently a guitarist and educator in the Houston area and a doctoral student at the University of North Texas. At his program, Alejandro was a teaching fellow and taught guitar ensemble, guitar pedagogy, and individual lessons. Since 2023, Alejandro has been leading the guitar and orchestra programs at Katy-Westpark High School. He has worked with amazing guitarists and educators including Dr. Isaac Bustos, René Izquierdo, Colin Davin, Jason Vieaux, Tom Johnson, and Dr. Bokyung Byun. Alejandro has won numerous awards including third place at the 2023 Texas Guitar Competition and second place and Audience Choice Award at the 2022 Competition; fourth place at the 2022 Houston Classical Guitar Festival and Competition and the 2022 Chicago Guitar Festival; first place at the 2019 James Stroud Competition; and fourth place at the 2019 Appalachian State Solo Guitar Competition.
Martha and John Nye Audience Choice Award:
Flavius Wagner
Youth Division II (15-18 year-olds)
First Place (Tie) Kiran Lee and Teddy McCoy
Second Place Wyatt Green
Youth Division I (11-14 year-olds)
First Place Axel Bastian Rosales Ascención
Second Place Andrew Lee
Third Place Brandon Lee
The Events
The events of the competition began with the semifinals of the adult competition and the pre-concert tribute to Enric Madriguera, before a performance by the 2024 Texas Annual Guitar Competition first place winner, Sohta Nakabashi on March 6th. March 7th kicked off with a masterclass with Sohta Nakabashi and David Russell immediately followed by a meet-and-greet with the competitors. The evening events started with an pre-concert performance by Winner of the 2024 CIGA Junior Alhambra Youth Guitar Competition, Mario Pino followed by the Adult Finals.
Our four finalists in playing order were Alejandro Rodriguez Ruiz, Kyle Khembunjong, Kyle Khembunjong, and Hayoung Lee. On March 8th, we started with the Youth Competition, followed by a vendor fair at lunchtime. Then Dr. Bryan Burns gave a lecture on “The Guidonian Guitar: Musicianship on the Classical Guitar” which was followed by a vendor demonstration. As the evening progressed, there was a pre-concert performance by the Festival Youth Orchestra followed by a performance by David Russell, co-presented with the Allegro Guitar Society. Finally, we had the Award Ceremony at the end of the concert to announce the winners for both the adult and youth competitions.
Featuring Performances by
Sohta Nakabayashi
The first-place winner of last year’s Texas Guitar Competition and Festival, Sohta Nakabayashi was born in Tokyo (Japan) in the year 2000 and began studying guitar at the age of three, with teacher Takayuki Azuma. In 2004, he met the guitarist Manuel Babiloni on one of his tours of Japan, who became his reference teacher and with whom he maintained constant contact through regular meetings, both in Spain and Japan, until his sudden death, in 2015. Currently, he studies the Superior Degree of Guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid (RCSMM), with Professor D. Miguel Trápaga. he has won over 10 awards in various international competitions among them, 1 Prize and Public Prize at “Uppsala international Gitarrfestival” (2022, Sweden), 1 Prize at “Alhambra CIGA junior”(2022, Spain), 1 Prize IX Concurso de Guitarra“Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga” (2021, Spain), 1 Prize and Public Prize at competition “Ciutat d’Elx” professional category (2021, Spain), 2 Prize at Tallinn Guitar Festival V International Classical Guitar Competition(2022, Estonia), 2 Prize at professional category XXl Concurso Internacional de Guitarra José Tomás-Villa de Petrer (2022, Spain), 2 Priza and the Embassy Prize of Spain, in the International Spanish Music Competition(2017, Japan), 3 Priza in Albania International Guitar Competition( 2022, Albania).
David Russell
Classical guitarist David Russell is world renowned for his superb musicianship and inspired artistry, having earned the highest praise from audiences and critics alike. In recognition of his great talent and his international career, he was named a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Music in London in 1997. He won the GRAMMY award for his CD AIRE LATINO in the category of best instrumental soloist in classical music. David Russell has an Honorary Doctorate in Music by the University of Arizona in Tucson in 2014 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Guitar Foundation of America in 2018.
David Russell spends his time touring the world, appearing regularly at prestigious halls in main cities, such as New York, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Madrid, Toronto or Rome. Concert-goers everywhere are in awe of his musical genius and inspired by his captivating stage presence. His love of his craft resonates through his flawless and seemingly effortless performance. The attention to detail and provocative lyrical phrasing suggests an innate understanding of what each individual composer was working to achieve, bringing to each piece a sense of adventure. A prolific recording artist, his collection includes seventeen CDs with Telarc International.
The New York Times wrote about his performance: “… Mr. Russell made his mastery evident without ever deviating from an approach that places musical values above mere display. It was apparent to the audience throughout the recital that Mr. Russell possesses a talent of extraordinary dimension”.
Upon hearing play in London, Andrés Segovia wrote: “My congratulations on your musicality and guitaristic technique”.
Mario Pino
Mario Pino graduated in higher studies at the Conservatorio Superior de las Islas Baleares with the end of career award with Pedro Mateo González, with whom he is doing his master’s degree as a soloist at the Centro Superior Katarina Gurska. Mario Pino has performed in auditoriums such as the Auditorio Miguel Delibes of Valladolid, Teatro Liceo of Salamanca and in prestigious guitar festivals such as the Festival Internacional de Guitarra José Tomás Villa de Petrer and the Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Coria. Mario’s musical quality has earned him first prizes in international competitions such as the Alhambra International Competition for Young People in Valencia, which will lead him to perform in 2025 at festivals in Dallas, Vienna, Verona, Granada, Malaga and Valencia. He has received masterclasses from many of the most prestigious guitarists in the world, such as David Russel, Judicael Perroy, Ricardo Gallén, Carlo Marchione and Marcin Dylla. Mario has graduated in higher studies at the Conservatorio Superior de las Islas Baleares with the end of career award with Pedro Mateo González, with whom he
is doing his master’s degree as a soloist at the Centro Superior Katarina Gurska. He has received masterclasses from many of the most prestigious guitarists in the world, such as David Russel, Judicael Perroy, Ricardo Gallén, Carlo Marchione and Marcin Dylla among others, which makes him a complete musician.
