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The 2010 Competitors
Benjamin Beirs
USA (Baltimore, Maryland)
Age: 25
Earning scholarships to the prestigious Peabody Conservatory of Music, this versatile musician from Baltimore trained as a classical guitarist under Julian Gray. He holds a master’s degree in guitar performance and pedagogy as well as a graduate performance diploma.
A singer, songwriter, teacher and composer, Beirs plays to diverse and appreciative audiences — from the concert stage to elementary schools. He also performs internationally as the American half of Duo Transatlantique (with French guitarist Maud Laforest). His 2008 debut recording, Distant Places & Different Times, is a varied and colorful collection of his favorite guitar music.
Believing in music as a “great kindness” for himself and others, Beirs frequently performs in community outreach settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes and schools. He recently participated in the Bangalore (India) School of Music’s 13th East West Multi-Cultural Music Festival. He performed in collaboration with Indian tabla and flute musicians, and conducted a master class and lessons.
Beirs has received top prizes in the Schadt String Competition and the National Guitar Workshop solo competition, and was a semifinalist in the 2005 Guitar Foundation of America competition. He is returning to Buffalo after placing third in the 2008 Falletta Competition.Artyom Dervoed
Russia
Age: 28
Dubbed “Tsar of the guitar” by France’s Universe Guitare (Jan. 2005), Dervoed performs worldwide as a soloist and with major orchestras. After winning the 39th “Michele Pittaluga” in Alessandria, Italy in 2006, he performed throughout Italy, including with the Roma Philharmonic. In September 2007, he received The Golden Guitar Award at the International Guitar Convention in Alessandria for the best up-and-coming guitarist.
His debut CD (Naxos label, 2008), featuring music by Russian composers, soared into the Top 10 Chamber Music Bestsellers. His second CD, recorded in Madrid, is dedicated to renowned Cuban guitarist/composer Leo Brouwer’s 70th birthday.
Dervoed’s numerous 1st prizes in international competitions over the past 15 years include the 18th H.R. H. Princess Cristina (Toledo, Spain – 2009).
Studying under Nikolay Komolyatov at the Russian Gnesin’s Academy of Music Moscow, he continued post-graduate studies at Germany’s Koblenz Guitar Academy with Aniello Desiderio. He also took master classes from Oscar Ghiglia at the Academia Chigiana in Siena (Italy).
Dervoed’s repertoire includes Renaissance-era music and more than 15 concertos with orchestra as well as contemporary compositions. Through musical collaborations, he also explores diverse genres on classical and electric guitar, including new-metal, industrial and electronic tango.
Jean-François Desrosby
Canada
Age:31
This Montreal guitarist is known for his colorful, energetic style and his exceptional musicality. His career as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher has led him to perform in Europe, Mexico, the United States and Canada. In 2003, he performed with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Graduating with high distinction from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, he worked with notable musicians, including Rémi Boucher, Manuel Barrueco, Pavl Steidl, David Russell and Aniello Desiderio. As a young guitarist, he won numerous prizes and scholarships.
Continuously seeking new repertoire, he has collaborated with diverse composers. Canadian composer Pascal Sasseville-Quoquochi created several Totems for solo guitar which Desrosby has performed and recorded on his first CD (along with works by Giuliani and Moreno-Torroba). In his April 2010 review of this compilation, Paul Fowles of Classical Guitar magazine wrote, “I’d now be very interested indeed to witness this guitarist performing live on stage …”
Currently completing his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree at Montreal University, Desrosby is conducting research (and preparing a book) on the optimization of technique for classical guitar based on principles developed by specialists in sport kinesiology.Mark Edwards
USA (Baltimore, Maryland)
Age: 25
Hailed by the Montgomery(Alabama) Advertiser as a classical musician who “transfers to another zone,” Mark Edwards has been performing concerts since the tender age of 14. He has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Italy and Germany. Recent engagements include Trinity Church (New York City); the Guitar Forum Guest Artist Series (Salisbury University, Maryland); the Piedmont Guitar Workshop (Virginia); and music series at the Red Room, a Baltimore venue showcasing new and experimental music, recently featured in Rolling Stone.
Edwards has earned 28 top prizes in the United States and Canada, including the Montreal International Guitar Competition (2009); National Guitar Workshop/National D’addario Solo Competition (2008); Columbus State University (Georgia) Guitar Symposium (2007); Portland Guitar Festival XVI; Appalachian GuitarFest Solo Guitar Competition (2006); and East Carolina University Guitar Competition (2008).
Edwards was graduated from Columbus State University’s Honors Program. He earned his Master of Music in guitar performance and pedagogy from Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory of Music, were he studied with Julian Gray on a full scholarship.
Edwards has been featured on six recordings, three with the Baldwin Ensemble (El Cumbanchero, Cathedral Hill, Fretworks) and three featuring music by Baltimore composer Karen Amrhein (…for Moonlight, Yule Like This, Giving Voice).Ekachai Jearakul
Thailand
Age: 22
Before settling on the classical guitar as his instrument of choice, Ekachai Jearakul from Ubonratchathani, Thailand, learned trumpet as a child and played the French horn in high school. His classical guitar training started at age 13 at Yamaha Music School.
Majoring in classical guitar at the Music College of Mahidol University, he learned from prominent teachers, including Ajarn Worakarn Sangsomboon, Ajarn Nalin Komentrakan, Ajarn Suwit Klinsmith.
Jearakul has performed solo concerts in his homeland and worldwide, including China, France, Korea, Russia, Greece, Japan, England, Germany and the United States. He also has performed as a soloist with the Dr. Sax Chamber Orchestra, International Orchestra of Italy, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Unity Philharmonic Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra and Bangkok Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2003, Jearakul has won numerous prizes, including five 1st prizes in recent international guitar competitions: Culiacan, Mexico (2010); Berlin, Germany and Singapore (both 2008); Russia (2007) and Thailand (2003). He also took 1st prizes in the Yamaha Youth Competition (2005), the National Youth Music Competition (2006) and the National Music Competition in Australia (2007). In addition, four 2nd prizes were awarded to Jearakul in international guitar competitions: in Asia (Thailand, 2008); Kiev, Ukraine (2009); and Greece (2007).
Samuel T. Klemke
Germany
Age: 31
Versatile guitarist Samuel Klemke has a special interest in 20th- and 21st-centruy music, but also enjoys performing the older classic repertoire.
Competing in prestigious competitions worldwide, including those in Alessandria, Madrid, Paris and Tokyo, Klemke won 25 prizes, including special honors for the interpretation of 20th century music. (In 2004, he was a semifinalist in the inaugural Falletta competition.)
Klemke has performed throughout Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Japan. He premiered several pieces by young composers, and also recorded a solo CD, a solo single and a duo CD with his sister, Laura, with whom he often performs.
Klemke received a scholarship to study the works of Henze and Takemitsu. He organized successful concerts with rarely performed solo and chamber pieces, such as Henze’s “Kammermusik 58.”
He started guitar lessons at age 4 from his father Tobias Klemke; at age 10, he entered his first national competition — and won 1st prize. The German native went on to study with Monika Rost at Weimar’s Franz Liszt Academy, where he earned the highest grade in his Diploma Recital. He continued his studies with Thomas Müller-Pering and took master classes with renowned guitarists, including Pepe Romero, Barrueco, Russel, Tanenbaum and Desiderio.Edel Muñoz
Cuba
Age: 34
Edel Muñoz began learning to play guitar at age 7 at the Vocational School of Art in his native town of Matanzas, Cuba. After graduating from the National School of Music in Havana, Cuba in 1994, he continued his studies with Eduardo Isaac in Argentina; Luis Orlandini at the University of Santiago de Chile; and Alex Garrobe in Barcelona, Spain.
An international concert artist, Muñoz has performed throughout Cuba, Central America, South America and Europe as a solo recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestra. Now living in Glendale, Wisconsin, he is recognized as one of the world’s upcoming classical guitar virtuosos.
Muñoz received numerous prizes including: Havana International Guitar Competition (1st); V International Guitar Competition Manuel Maria Ponce, Mexico (2nd); Pau Casals Competition, Rosario, Argentina (1st); Mozarteum Competition, Santa Fe, Argentina (1st); V International Competition “Encuentros Musicales del Rio Uruguay, Argentina (1st); II International Guitar Competition, Montevideo, Uruguay (1st); II International Competition Comarca El Conadado, Spain (1st); IX Contest L’Arjau, Barcelona, Spain (1st); VIII Festival of Young Musicians of Cataluña, Spain (1st); II International Miguel Llobet Guitar Competition, Barcelona, Spain (1st) and First Indiana (USA) Guitar Festival & Competition (1st).Nemanja Ostojić
Serbia
Age: 26
When the legendary John Williams had to withdraw from a performance with the Athens (Greece) Chamber Orchestra, Nemanja Ostojić was honored to be his substitute, performing under the baton of Maestro Leo Brouwer. During that event -- the 5th Guitar Art Festival in Ostojić’s hometown of Belgrade, Serbia -- he performed Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez.
Ostojić has performed highly acclaimed recitals in Europe, Asia and North America. He has appeared as soloist with the Allentown Symphony, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic, and the Saint George Strings, performing with conductors Petar Ivanovic, Dianne Wittry and Bujor Hoinic.
Ostojić was graduated from Music High School Kosta Manojlovic in the class of Bosko Radojkovic. He received his bachelor’s degree in music from the Belgrade Academy of Music, studying with Srdjan Tosic. He is now completing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Indiana University, Bloomington, under the guidance of Ernesto Bitetti.
Ostojić has earned gold medals in 15 major international guitar competitions, including: Niccolo Paganini (Parma, Italy); Volos Guitar Festival (Greece); Guitar Competition Anna Amalia (Weimer, Germany); Seventh Annual Texas Guitar Competition (Dallas); 2008 Schadt String Competition (Allentown, Penn.); and the Southwest International Guitar Competition (San Antonio, Texas).Thomas Viloteau
France
Age: 24
As the winner of the 2006 Guitar Foundation of America Competition, Thomas Viloteau toured North America, playing more than 50 concerts and teaching master classes. Last year, he was the first guitarist to play for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Conservatory Project at New York’s Kennedy Center.
Viloteau has performed in Italy, Spain, Sweden, France, Germany and Taiwan. He placed first at the Salou guitar competition (Spain), the Segovia international competition (Linares, Spain), the Ville d’Antony international competition (Paris) and the Mottola competition (Italy).
The Paris native began music studies at age 12. He later studied with Maite Rubio at the Escuela de Música Juan Pedro Carrero in Barcelona, while taking master classes with Alvaro Peirri. Then, at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Barcelona, he studied with Joan Furio.
Viloteau received a scholarship to study under Maestro Alberto Ponce at the Ecole Normale in Paris, graduating with a Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste. At the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, Viloteau studied in Roland Dyens’ class while also working with Judicaël Perroy. In 2009, he received a scholarship to study under Marc Teicholz at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he earned a Professional Studies diploma.