15 Competitors Selected for 2015 Parkening International Guitar Competition

The world's preeminent classical guitar competition, the Parkening International Guitar Competition, has selected 15 standout competitors for its fourth triennial competition. Representing 11 countries, they will vie for the largest prize purse among guitar competitions, competing at Pepperdine University from Thursday, May 28, through Saturday, May 30, 2015, on the University's campus in Malibu, California. Renowned guitar virtuoso Christopher Parkening, the competition's namesake and artistic director, is Distinguished Professor of Music at Pepperdine's Seaver College. The competition honors his lifetime commitment to fostering musical excellence in young artists as demonstrated by his mentor, Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia.

The 15 competitors range in age from 19 to 29 years old and are among the international community's most talented guitarists. They are Riccardo Calogiuri, 25, Italy; Fabian Cardozo, 28, Argentina; Silviu Ciulei, 29, Romania; Vladimir Gapontsev, 29, Russia; Emre Gökalp, 27, Turkey; Samuel Hines, 23, Long Beach, California, USA; Alec Holcomb, 19, Clarksville, Tennessee, USA; Alberta Khoury, 19, Australia; Rovshan Mamedkuliev, 28, Russia; Kyuhee Park, 29, South Korea; Sanel Redzic, 26, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Andrea Roberto, 19, Italy; Meng Su, 27, China; Marko Topchii, 24, Ukraine, and Tengyue Zhang, 21, China.

"We are thrilled to bring such a diverse range of young guitarists from all over the world here to Southern California for what is sure to be an extraordinary week of music," says Rebecca Carson, Executive Director for the Parkening International Guitar Competition and Managing Director for the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts. "This year's competitors hail from as close as Long Beach and as far as Australia. They are united by their passion for classical guitar and by their love of music. We are looking forward to welcoming all of them to Pepperdine."

Judging the competition will be Lynn Harrell, cello virtuoso and conductor; Lee Holdridge, Emmy Award-winning film composer; Charlotte Lee, senior vice president, IMG Artists; Angel Romero, guitar maestro, soloist, and conductor; and David Thomas, recording producer.

Three of the competitors will advance to the final round on May 30 to perform a concerto with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra before a live audience in Pepperdine's Smothers Theatre. The gold, silver, and bronze medalists will be announced at the conclusion of the final round.

In addition to the Parkening International Guitar Competition, Pepperdine will present the Parkening Young Guitarist Competition on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 26 and 27. The 10 competitors, ages 17 and younger, are Katelyn Beisiadecki, 15, Monterey Park, California, USA; Erick Chipana, 17, Bolivia; Sedona Farber, 14, Santa Ana, California, USA; Nolan Harvel, 14, Hermitage, Tennessee, USA; Ashwin Krishna, 17, Los Altos, California, USA; Xu Kun (Alan) Liu, 13, Canada; Jonathan Pryde, 16, Reading, Michigan, USA; Kendrick Shen, 15, South Pasadena, California, USA; Grace Sheppard, 16, Tucson, Arizona, USA; and Kyle Wong, 15, San Jose, California, USA.

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