GUITARS INTERNATIONAL
is pleased to present the twenty-fourth annual
Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival®
in cooperation with the fifth annual
James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition
hosted at and with support from the
Cleveland Institute of Music
June 6 - 9, 2024
 
Jason Vieaux (USA)
Nicolò Spera (Italy)
Lorenzo Micheli (Italy)
Hao Yang (China)
Thomas Flippin (USA)
Petra Polácková (Czech Republic)
Jonathan Leathwood (England)
Mari Sato (USA)
Andy Poxon, (USA)
Daniele Chiesa (Spain)
Guitar Festival About Festival Profiles Stroud Youth Competition Schedule Tickets Lodging & Museums Directions Reviews & News Contact

[One of] two of the most important annual American classical guitar events
(Classical Guitar Magazine)

 
WELCOME
Please join us for the twenty-fourth annual Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival® a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. This June we look forward to sharing - world class classical guitar concerts, the fifth annual James Stroud National Youth Competition, performance premieres, master classes, lectures, private lessons, and a demonstration of fine concert guitars - with old friends and new from around the USA and beyond in a celebration of the classical guitar and art music: solo and ensemble, old and new.
 
Fifth Annual
JAMES STROUD NATIONAL CLASSICAL GUITAR YOUTH COMPETITION: 
SEMI-FINAL ROUND
Thursday, June 6: 10:00am - 12:30pm, 1:30 - 4:00pm

Competition Location: Cleveland Institute of Music, Mixon Hall,11021 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (Directions)
Description: Fifteen Stroud Competition Semi-Finalists ages thirteen to eighteen will perform before the public and a panel of internationally acclaimed  judges. See Biograpies.
Information: Click HERE or call CIM at 216-791-5000
Admission: Free and open to the public, no tickets required
Judges: Stephen Aron (USA), guitar; Thomas Flippin (USA), guitar/composer; Christoph Harlan (USA), guitar; John Marcel Williams (USA). guitar; Andy Poxon (USA). guitar; Ricardo Saeb (Mexico), guitar; Hao Yang (China), guitar
 
Grammy Award Winner
JASON VIEAUX, guitar with MARI SATO, violin
(USA) 
Faculty Concert: Thursday, June 6, 7:30 - 9:30 pm
Solo Guitar and Violin/Guitar Duo

"[Jason Vieaux is] among the elite of today's classical guitarists"
(Gramophone)
"[Mari Sato is] a visceral and engaging storyteller.”
(ClevelandClassical.com)


Purchase Tickets HERE $30.00. All purchased tickets will be held for pickup at the CIM Pogue Lobby Festival ticket table starting 45 minutes prior to each Festival concert.
Concert Location: Cleveland Institute of Music, Mixon Hall,
11021 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (Directions)
Solo and Duo Works by: Bach, Fung, Ponce, and Schubert
Information: Click HERE or call 216-752-7502
Vieaux Sample Artist Video: In A Sentimental Mood by Duke Ellington
Sato Sample Artist Video: Works by Walker, White, Roldan y Gardes, and Roumain

Pre-Concert Lecture 1: Jonathan Leathwood (England) 
Thursday, June 6,  6:00 to 7:15 pm, CIM Studio TBA
Topic and Description: Creative Practice. When we encounter problems in a score, is there an alternative to grinding, repetitive practice? In this lecture, we’ll look at how to take a difficulty – technical, interpretive, cognitive – and improvise on it, so that practice becomes both more efficient and more joyful.
Admission: Free and open to the public, no tickets or passes required
 
NICOLO SPERA, guitar
(Italy)
Guest Concert: Friday, June 7, 7:30 - 9:30 pm
Solo 10 String Guitar

"Spera’s joy in playing this music was contagious to all, making this a performance to relish and remember." (Sharps & Flatirons) 

Purchase Tickets HERE $25.00. All purchased tickets will be held for pickup at the CIM Pogue Lobby Festival ticket table starting 45 minutes prior to each Festival concert.
Concert Location: Cleveland Institute of Music, Mixon Hall,
11021 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (Directions)
Works by: Bach, Biber, and Susani
Information: Click HERE or call 216-752-7502
Sample Artist Video: Ständchen by Franz Schubert arranged by J.K. Mertzork by Johann Mertz

Pre-Concert Lecture 2: Jonathan Leathwood (England)
Friday, June 7,  6:00 to 7:15 pm, CIM Studio TBA
Topic and Description: Perceiving and Shaping Harmony. When building an interpretation, it is crucially important to shape melodies and rhythms – but we must also bring out the movement of the harmony. We’ll look at ways to play and listen to harmony on its own, how to think about harmonic functions with a minimum of theory and a maximum of intuition, and how to put melody, rhythm, and harmony into a lively conversation.
Admission: Free and open to the public, no tickets or passes required
 
LORENZO MICHELI, guitar
(Italy) 
Guest Concert: Saturday, June 8, 7:30 - 9:30 pm
Solo Guitar

First prize winner of the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition and many others.

Purchase Tickets HERE $25.00. All purchased tickets will be held for pickup at the CIM Pogue Lobby Festival ticket table starting 45 minutes prior to each Festival concert.
Concert Location: Cleveland Institute of Music, Mixon Hall,
11021 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (Directions)
Night Music by: Britten, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Debusy, Mignot, Rebay, and Schubert
Information: Click HERE or call 216-752-7502
Sample Artist Video: Prélude op. 28 no. 15 by Frédéric Chopin

Pre-Concert Lecture 3: Daniele Chiesa (Spain), luthier
Saturday, June 8,  6:00 to 7:15 pm, CIM Studio TBA
Topic: Memory and Innovation, A Guitar Maker's Art. Description TBA.
Admission: Free and open to the public, no tickets or passes required
 
HAO YANG, guitar
(China)
Guest Concert: Sunday, June 9, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Solo Guitar

Recipient of the Clifton Foundation’s Emerging Artists Award and a Winner of the 2021 Astral National Auditions.


Purchase Tickets HERE $15.00. All purchased tickets will be held for pickup at the CIM Pogue Lobby Festival ticket table starting 45 minutes prior to each Festival concert.
Concert Location: Cleveland Institute of Music, Mixon Hall,
11021 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (Directions)
Works by: Bach, Diabelli, Maw, Mendelssohn, and Regondi
Information: Click HERE or call 216-752-7502
Sample Artist Video: Variations on an Air from Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi by Giulio Regondi

Pre-Concert Lecture 4: Jonathan Leathwood (England)
Sunday, June 9, 11:45 am to 12:45 pm, CIM Studio TBA
Topic and Description: Memory and Improvisation: Demystifying Nicholas Maw's Masterpiece, "Music of Memory." In her Sunday afternoon recital, Hao Yang will perform Nicholas Maw’s 1983 masterwork Music of Memory, a set of passionate meditations on a short intermezzo from Mendelssohn’s Second String Quartet (1827). In this talk, we’ll explore Maw’s use of memory techniques: how he recalls, loses, and regains Mendelssohn’s music – and how these techniques might have been inspired by remarkable innovations in Mendelssohn’s own quartet.
Admission: Free and open to the public, no tickets or passes required
 
PETRA POLACKOVA, guitar
(Czech Republic)
Guest Festival Artist In Residence Concert:
Sunday, June 9, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Viennese and Modern Guitars

"[Polácková's] playing was so technically secure and musically insightful, it was unimaginable that anything she played could possibly be difficult." (Cleveland Classical)


Purchase Tickets HERE $25.00. All purchased tickets will be held for pickup at the CIM Pogue Lobby Festival ticket table starting 45 minutes prior to each Festival concert.
Concert Location: Cleveland Institute of Music, Mixon Hall,
11021 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (Directions)
Four Centuries of Czech Guitar Music by: Dietrichu, Eben. Hromek, Rak, and Tomáš
Information: Click HERE or call 216-752-7502
Sample Artist Video: Sonata III by Manuel Maria Ponce

 
Pre-Concert Speakers:
JONATHAN LEATHWOOD, guitar
(England)
DANIELE CHIESA, guitar maker
(Spain)

"Jonathan Leathwood is a genius." (Classical Guitar)

Along with [Chiesa's] own individual perspective, his teachers and those he’s worked with shape every guitar he makes.”

Location: Cleveland Institute of Music, CIM Studio TBA,11021 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (Directions)
Admission: Free and open to the public, no tickets or passes required
Jonathan Leathwood: Creativity in Practice, Interpretation, and Composition: In my three lectures, aimed at performers and listeners alike, the emphasis is on playfulness. The first two lectures deal with improvisation and interpretation in the practice room; in the last, we’ll see how some of the creative ideas demonstrated in the first two lectures animate a major guitar work.
Daniel Chiesa: A Guitar Maker's Art, Tradition, Memory, and Innovation: Description TBA.

Pre-Concert Lecture 1. Jonathan Leathwood (England) 
Thursday, June 6, 6:00 - 7:15 pm, CIM room 217
Topic: Creative Practice.
Pre-Concert Lecture 2. Jonathan Leathwood (England)
Friday, June 7, 6:00 - 7:15 pm, CIM room 217
Topic: Perceiving and Shaping Harmony.
Pre-Concert Lecture 3. Daniele Chiesa (Spain), Luthier
Saturday, June 8, 6:00 - 7:15 pm, CIM room 217
Topic: A Guitar Maker's Art. Memory and Innovation 
Pre-Concert Lecture 4. Jonathan Leathwood (England)
Sunday, June 9, 11:45am - 12:45 pm, CIM room 217
Topic: Memory and Improvisation, Demystifying Nicholas Maw's Masterpiece, "Music of Memory"
 
CICGF 2024
MASTER CLASSES

To Perform in a CICGF Master Class: Contact TBA  
To Observe a CICGF Master Class: FREE and open to the public (no tickets or passes required).
Location of all Master Classes: Cleveland Institute of Music, 11021 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (Directions)
Master Class 1: Friday, June 7, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm 
Location: CIM room 201
Instructor: Nicolò Spera (Italy), guitar.
Master Class 2: Friday, June 7, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Location: CIM room 229
Instructor: Petra Polácková (Czech Republic), guitar
Master Class 3: Friday, June 7, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm 
Location: CIM room 227
Instructor: Hao Yang (China), guitar
Master Class 4: Friday, June 7, 2:00 to 5:00 pm
Location: CIM room 201
Instructors: Jason Vieaux (USA), guitar, and Mari Sato.(USA), violin.
Master Class 5: Friday, June 7, 2:00 to 5:00 pm 
Location: CIM room 229
Instructor: Lorenzo Micheli (Italy), guitar
 
ANDY POXON, guitar
(USA)
DEMONSTRATION  OF FINE CLASSICAL GUITARS
FROM AROUND THE WORLD 
Saturday, June 8, 4:30 - 5:30 pm


Guitar Demonstration Location: Cleveland Institute of Music, CIM Mixon Hall,11021 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (Directions)
Description: Virtuoso classical guitarist Andy Poxon will perform on seven individually handcrafted concert guitars to illustrate each instrument’s unique musical attributes.
Admission: Free and open to the public. no tickets or passes required
Information: Click HERE or call 216-752-7502
 
Fifth Annual
JAMES STROUD NATIONAL CLASSICAL GUITAR YOUTH COMPETITION:
FINAL ROUND
Over $20,000.00 In Cash Prizes
Sunday, June 9, 6:30 - 8:30 pm


Competition Location: Cleveland Institute of Music, Mixon Hall, 11021 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44106 (Directions)
Description: The four 2024 Stroud Competition Finalists will perform before the public and a panel of internationally acclaimed  judges. Prizes will be announced at the close of this Round.
Information: Click HERE or call CIM at 216-791-5000
Sample Stroud Competition video: June 2020 Final Round
Admission: Free and open to the public, no tickets required
Final Round Judges:
Carlotta Dalia (Italy), guitar
Jonathan Leathwood (England), guitar
Lorenzo Micheli (Italy), guitar
Petra Polácková (Czech Republic), guitar
Mari Sato (USA), violin
Jason Vieaux (USA), guitar
Hao Yang (China), guitar
 
Closing Dinner
CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL CLASSICAL GUITAR 
FESTIVAL®
Sunday, June 9, 9:30 pm

Location: Valerio's Ristorante
12405 Mayfield Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Admission: Open to all Festival participants.
Telephone: 216-421-8049
Attendees pay their own tab.
DONATE
Support Cleveland International
Classical Guitar Festival events
with a tax deductible donation.
2024 CICGF program book
Additional Support Provided By:
  • The Augustine Foundation
  • Alpha Graphics
  • ClevelandClassical.com
  • Cleveland Chamber Music Society
  • Cleveland Scene
  • David W. Hershberger
  • Friends of CICGF
  • Glidden House
  • Les Delices
  • Pat Kilkenny
  • Rodgers Tuning Machines
  • The Plain Dealer
  • This is Classical Guitar
  • Thompson Hine LLP
  • WCLV 104.9 FM
  • WCPN 90.3 FM