The Classical Guitar Competition entitled City of Alessandria was first held in 1968 on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the city. The promoter of the initiative, the first of its kind in Italy, was Dr. Michele Pittaluga,
musicologist from Alessandria. The Honorary President of the Jury for the first edition was the great Spanish master, Andres Segovia, then from the sec
ond edition to the present, the Venezuelan, Maestro Alirio Diaz. Last year the guitarist Marco Diaz Tamayo, a past winner of the competition, teacher at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, was asked to collaborate with him and the Committee in Alessandria. After the death of Dr. Pittaluga, in June 1995, the name of the competition was changed to “Michele Pittaluga International Guitar Competition - Premio Citta di Alessandria” and is organized by a special committee that has, as part of its constitution, the commitment of spreading the knowledge of the guitar repertoire, promoting new talents and supporting initiatives in favor of these goals. Daughter of Michele Pittaluga, the Founder of the guitar competition, Micaela Pittaluga is the President of the Competition and has been the head of the Organising committee since 1995. Edition 2012, Jurors and Laureates
The Competition, that is held annually, will have its 45th ANNIVERSARY this year, in late September 2012. In 2010 the City of Alessandria Award became member of the ISPA in New York and since 1981 has been a member of the “Fédération Mondiale des Concours Internationaux de Musique-WFIMC” with its headquarters in Geneva, and membership in UNESCO . In 1981, in response to the directives of the World Federation, the program of the Competition has been extended to repertoires with orchestra or string quartet, and over the years, many orchestras have played for the Competition
Since 1997 the Competition in Alessandria has been placed under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic of Italy and under the Patronage of Unesco Italian Commission. The most important personalities representing a wide spectrum of the guitar world have taken part as members of the jury or as special Guests (Joaquin Rodrigo, Antonio Lauro, Alexandre Tansman, Anton Garcia Abril, Maria Luisa Anido, Leo Brouwer, Luciano Chailly, Ruggero Chiesa, John Duarte, Angelo Gilardino, Ricardo Iznaola, Robert Vidal, Hubert Kappel, Marlos Nobre, Goffredo Petrassi, Chen Zhi, Arminda Villa Lobos among the others)
The competition has awarded in 45 years many young guitarists who have then gone on to great concert careers. You only have to check the list of winners published in the website….. The winner is offered a concert tour in a number of Italian cities and other concerts abroad, a cash prize of about 15000$, a recording by Naxos, master classes and participation to Music Festival such as Festival Olympus in Saint Petersburg, Jeunesses Musicales in Italy, and D`Addario Foundation Festival in the Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall) New York. Competition for composers
In 1997 a separate contest was created, entitled “International Michele Pittaluga Composition Competition for Classical Guitar” with the idea of expanding the contemporary guitar repertoire. For the first four years the contest checked works for solo guitar (1997), for guitar duo, guitar trio or guitar quartet (1998), for guitar solo with string quartet or quintet (1999 ), for guitar and orchestra (2000). From the year 2000, this competition is biennal. The winning work “Chameleon” by Kang Kyeon Mook (South Korea) was performed in 2010 in a world premiere by Marco Tamayo and the ACIES QUARTETT from Klagenfurt. The subject of the next edition (in 2012) is a short piece for guitar solo to play as soundtrack of the Guitar competition events.
