Being a ‘News Hound’ of mediocre ability at best, I freely confess to normally just finding out about things like the André Segovia International Guitar Competition from other people, while I sit around in bars hoping someone will buy me a drink or give me a story to write about. Well not this time!
Camera bag over shoulder, pad at the ready, I arrived at the Centro Civico to watch some youngsters pluck away at a couple of tunes. After borrowing a pen to go with my pad from the very nice young lady on the door I went into the auditorium. This is when it all became clear, and the realisation of what I have been missing by not attending before suddenly hit me…
The organisation standard is as good as I’ve seen for any event anywhere, and considering the size of La Herradura, it really is a credit to the organisers, the Town Hall and officials that an event of such standing can be flawlessly executed here on an annual basis.
Then there is the competition itself, and that I even considered that maybe it would be a bunch of nerds hitting a lot of bum notes says more about my ignorance than about the extremely high standard of musical excellence on display. Watching a young musician performing, what appeared to me, a perfect piece, and then to see him continue the piece without even plucking for strumming the strings, with the beautifully timed notes solely emanating from the pressure of the left  ‘cord’ fingers, had myself and the entire audience hypnotised.
The auditorium was packed, and the applause for each musician and piece was truly rapturous, and deservedly so. But I think some of that applause should be directed towards the organisers and supporters of this event, including the helpful staff at the doors and on hand generally.
The competition was won this year by the Russian, Dimitri Illarionov, who takes home with him the first prize of €9,000 and a handmade guitar by Paco Santiago Marín which is valued at €8,000. This highly talented 30-year-old has won other competitions in Spain, Italy, Poland, Belgium, and Russia.
The judges awarded the second prize of €4,000 to the Brazilian guitarist Gustavo Costa and the third prize of €2,000 to a Croatian guitarist, Iva Nezic from Zagreb.
If you didn’t attend this year, I highly recommend you give this event a go next year!