10th International Competition for Young Guitarists
«Andrés Segovia» from May 30th to June 2nd 2018
in Monheim am Rhein

Every single competant was carefully prepared, all your performances were amazing.
The jury were impressed by the overall extraordinary level and had a hard time to finally name the 26 winners.

To all competants we wish ongoing success in their musical development. And hopefully we see many of you again, on stage or during the next competition in 2020.

You find the list of winners here.
You can download all results in PDF format.

Dear readers, for many people, a passion for music begins with a guitar. There is hardly any instrument that is more popular among budding musicians - and consequently this stringed instrument employed in such a variety of musical styles marks the beginning of many careers in music. However, enthusiasm for the guitar is not restricted to beginners. Technically demanding compositions and many-faceted uses in musical compositions make the guitar an instrument for virtuoso performances.

Over the next few days the International Competition for Young Guitarists will once again prove this and will focus on the high standards achieved by young guitarists. These talented youngsters will show in their performance of specially chosen works in front of a jury of renowned experts that the guitar is not only a popular instrument but is at the same time one that makes great demands on the player.

I am very pleased that in this competition - taking place this year for the 10th time - young musicians from so many different countries are going to demonstrate their skills to audiences of music lovers and to leading lights in the world of guitarists. As well as ensuring cultural exchange, the next few days here in Monheim will give participants the opportunity to push their playing to new limits and test it in new combinations of instruments.

Giving those with outstanding musical talent the opportunity to display and develop their skills - regardless of their family background or their country of birth - is one of the important aims of our policy in the field of culture. This competition for young musicians achieves just that for guitarists with great success. Nine months ago, the Prime Minister of our federal state, Armin Laschet, presented the Prize for the Promotion of Culture of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia for 2017 to the guitar duo Sören Golz und Ivan Danilov. These two young men had participated, from 2004 on, in this competition for young guitarists and repeatedly won prizes. I would be delighted to see participants in this year's competition follow their example so that I could meet them again later in their careers.

Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen
Minister for Culture and Science
of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

We are happy about the strong interest from all over the world.
We are looking forward to welcome the young guitar talents in Monheim upon Rhine.

We received 69 applications from the following 30 countries:

Belarus •  Bosnia-Herzegovina •  Belgium •  Brazil •  Bulgaria •  Chile •  China •  Croatia •  Czech Republic •  England •  Estonia •  Germany •  Greece •  Italy •  Hungary •  Laos •  Lithuania •  Macedonia •  Mexico •  Montenegro •  Netherlands •  Poland •  Portugal •  Romania •  Russia •  Serbia •  Slovenia •  South Korea •  Syria •  Ukraine

Get a vivid impression by our VIDEO CLIP.