After a successful first round, which saw the participation of 50 promising young guitarists, the semifinal and final rounds of the 5th International Guitar Competition Maurizio Biasini in Bologna had to be postponed to 2021 (27/28 September – 2 October) due to the COVID19 pandemic. Nevertheless, it gave us the opportunity to explore a completely new format, an online video competition under the theme GUIITAR 2020 open to all selected semifinalists.
This extra contest was created to overcome the long period until the continuation of the 5th cciMB by offering a space/platform for the guitarists to express themselves freely, unbound to expectations, showing their personal vision on music and the classical guitar.
Details of the competition can be found here
We were thrilled to receive 13 beautiful video entries (involving 14 semifinalists), all made with great care and showing an enormous variety in styles: poetic, experimental, traditional, romantic, presenting own compositions or those of less-known composers, some in combination with dance, or animation.
We would like to thank all the participants for the time and effort they put into preparing their videos. The three winning videos are visible below. The other submitted videos (in alphabetical order of the participants' last name) will be presented over the coming months.
Special thanks also to our cciMB Jury, which was joined for the occasion by the independent filmmaker and author Fred van der Kooij.
We hope you will enjoy watching the videos as much as we did.
1st Prize of € 1’500:
Marius Schnurr (1993) - Germany
My basic idea for this video was to take the expectation of a classical guitar and turn it upside down. Although it will not always seem like that, all the sounds you hear are produced on one classical guitar, without any effects or post-processing (except the backwards video-playback in the very end). For me, it’s not about trying to do something new, but about curiosity and the process of exploring. I hope this video evokes some reaction in the viewer, either positive or negative, and maybe even leads to discussions about what classical guitar is, can, or should be.
1st Prize of € 1’500:
Marius Schnurr (1993) - Germany
My basic idea for this video was to take the expectation of a classical guitar and turn it upside down. Although it will not always seem like that, all the sounds you hear are produced on one classical guitar, without any effects or post-processing (except the backwards video-playback in the very end). For me, it’s not about trying to do something new, but about curiosity and the process of exploring. I hope this video evokes some reaction in the viewer, either positive or negative, and maybe even leads to discussions about what classical guitar is, can, or should be.
2nd Prize of € 1’000: Lorenzo Reggiani (1995) Switzerland
In 2020 the guitar needs composers like Nadir Vassena. His composition ‘Anatomie dell’acqua’ holds and synthesizes a new language, a new vision of the guitar. An instrument full of sounds yet to be discovered up to the furthest part of the string, fret or neck of a guitar. The vision of the guitar I want to share and promote is contained in this video, full of contrasts of light and space, that intertwine with sound contrasts and dynamics of the piece and that show the great intimacy between the instrument and the musician.
2nd Prize of € 1’000: Lorenzo Reggiani (1995) Switzerland
In 2020 the guitar needs composers like Nadir Vassena. His composition ‘Anatomie dell’acqua’ holds and synthesizes a new language, a new vision of the guitar. An instrument full of sounds yet to be discovered up to the furthest part of the string, fret or neck of a guitar. The vision of the guitar I want to share and promote is contained in this video, full of contrasts of light and space, that intertwine with sound contrasts and dynamics of the piece and that show the great intimacy between the instrument and the musician.
3rd Prize of € 500: Marie Sans (1998) together with Alice Letort - France
Jean-Philippe Rameau's harpsichord pieces are little jewels of musical sensitivity and inventiveness. We chose to transcribe three of them for guitar duet: "Le Rappel des Oiseaux", "Les Tendres Plaintes" and "L'Egiptienne", from which you will hear some extracts in the following video. Published between 1724 and 1728, these three short compositions stimulate the audience's imagination with their evocative titles and with their colourful, light and poetic music. We gave our imagination free reign and created a stop-motion short film, using guitar strings.
3rd Prize of € 500: Marie Sans (1998) together with Alice Letort - France
Jean-Philippe Rameau's harpsichord pieces are little jewels of musical sensitivity and inventiveness. We chose to transcribe three of them for guitar duet: "Le Rappel des Oiseaux", "Les Tendres Plaintes" and "L'Egiptienne", from which you will hear some extracts in the following video. Published between 1724 and 1728, these three short compositions stimulate the audience's imagination with their evocative titles and with their colourful, light and poetic music. We gave our imagination free reign and created a stop-motion short film, using guitar strings.