By the second year in a row Amarante was once again the ground of the International Guitar Festival and Competition. From the 9th until the 18th September 2016 the CCA Maria Amélia Laranjeira, Amarante Cultural Centre has promoted the second edition of the event that has occurred during ten days.
Intended to all the people of Amarante, to the general public and also to the guitar enthusiasts this event has put forward once again distinguished international guitarists such as Francesco Buzzurro, Carlo Marchione, Adriano Del Sal and Aniello Desiderio. Venturing in diversity this second edition has also presented The Minho Plucked String Orchestra under the guidance of the maestro Rui Gama, the Portuguese duo Rui Vilhena and Ricardo Coelho and Norberto Gonçalves da Cruz, a distinguished mandolinist. The young guitar talent Bruno Pino Mateos, the winner of the category E of the guitar competition in the first festival’s edition has performed the opening concert of the second edition of the festival. Resembling the preceding edition concerts, masterclasses and the guitar competition have highlighted the festival. The guitar competition has combined several categories, from 8 years old up to 20 years old and no age limit with a first prize of 5000€ in the category F (over 20 years old without age limit). The CCA considers that the two editions of the festival held so far have accomplished all the purposes set particularly the disclosure of the guitar as a soloist instrument to the overall public and to impel the CCA and the city of Amarante as a cultural benchmark nation and worldwide not only by the presence of the international guitarists that have performed in the festival but also by the presence of the young national and international guitarists that have participated in the guitar competition. “In 2015 the competition brought competitors from all over the world. Norway, Croatia, the Ukraine, Denmark, Spain and Brazil were some of the countries represented in this get-together. Particular emphasis for the Ukrainian guitarist Marko Topchii that despite his young age, 24 years old, has already won more than 50 prizes around the world and that took presence in this competition. He won the second place. The festival has also boosted the local economy and has displayed the county abroad” has reminded the president of the CCA, Francisco Laranjeira. Tito Silva guitarist, guitar teacher and artistic director of the festival has explained that the second edition had a “more pedagogic and wider dimension once it was intended to reach the overall public and not only to the classical guitarists”.
