The first edition of the International Guitar Competition Maurizio Biasini was held from 10 – 15 October, 2011, in Bologna, Italy, in the beautiful 17th century Villa Gandolfi Pallavinici, where in 1770 Mozart stayed for a few weeks in preparation for appearing before the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna. The competition hosted 24 young guitarists, between 18 and 33 years old, coming from 16 different European and extra-European countries. After the first, preliminary round which included two compulsory pieces, Worry beads by the English composer Michael Berkeley and Melancholic Dance by Alberto Martelli, as well as additional compositions of free choice, 13 semifinalists were selected: Thierry Bégin-Lamontagne (Canada), Srdjan Bulat (Croatia),  Emanuele Buono (Italy), Riccardo Calogiuri (Italy),  Fabian Cardozo  (Argentina), Petrit Ceku (Croatia),  Claudia Nössing (Italy), Adam Oleńczak  (Poland), Domagoj Pauković (Croatia), Oscar Somersalo (Finland), Marlon Titre (The Netherlands), Marko Topchii (Ukraine), and Adam Woch (Polond). It was up to the international Jury (Alberto Martelli, Conservatorio A. Boito di Parma, Italy, President; Gérard Abiton, Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris, France); Marco Vinicio Carnicelli, Conservatorio N. Piccinni di Bari, Italy; David Tanenbaum, Chairman of the Guitar Department at the San Francisco Conservatory, USA; and Walter Zanetti, Conservatotio G.B. Martini di Bologna, Italy) to make the difficult decision of choosing the three finalists among these young, excellent guitarists, who for the semi-final round had to play two movements of a guitar concerto played in the reduced form for guitar and piano as well as one additional solo piece.

The first prize, € 12.000 and the opportunity to play two solo concerts, was awarded to the 24-years old Petrit Çeku from Zagreb, Croatia (born in Kosovo) for his performance of the 1° Concert in Re by Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco. The second and third prize (€ 5.000 and € 3.000) went to, respectively, the Italian Emanuele Buono, 24-years old, who played the Concerto in La maggior, op. 30 by Mauro Giuliani and to Srdjan Bulat, 24-years old and also from Zagreb, for playing the Concierto para un Gentilhombre by Joaquín Rodrigo. During the brake, while the Jury retreated, a video with highlights of the Competition and a presentation of all participants was shown. The Award Ceremony was attended by the vice-mayor of Bologna, Silvia Giannini, the Director of Culture of the City of Bologna, Mauro Felicori, the President of the Alma Mater Foundation, Francesco Vella, and the Director of the G.B. Martini Conservatory of Bologna, Donatella Pieri.

The Special Prize of the Jury went to the Argentinian guitarist (studying in Basel, Switzerland) Fabian Cardozo, while all participants will receive a DVD containing the registration of their performances during the Competition. Furthermore, three annual subscriptions offered by the Italian guitar magazine Il Fronimo were awarded to the three Italian semi-finalists.

The Competition received financial support from the Guth Biasini family and the CARISBO Foundation. It took place under the patronage of the City of Bologna which provided the locations for the final evening, the Teatro Manzoni, and for the additional concerts, the Museum of Music. Further partners of the event were the Alma Mater Foundation, the alumni association of the University of Bologna, which hosted the Competition, and the G.B Martini Conservatory of Music, where the masterclass by David Tanenbaum and the lecture/encounter with composer Michael Berkeley took place. The Concorso Chitarristico Internazionale Maurizio Biasini was part of the events of Bologna City of Music – UNESCO  2011.