James Stroud

Classical Guitar Competition

2025

presented by the

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival®

and hosted by the

Cleveland Institute of Music

Matteo Mela (Italy) Classical guitarist Matteo Mela was born in 1971. Between 1991 and 1998 as a member of the Mela-Bandini Duo he won first prize in a number of prestigious chamber music competitions: Aram (Rome) 1992, F. Cilea Competition 1993, GMI 1994, Città di Gubbio, Città di Caltanissetta, and Perugia Classico Competitions 1995.

In 2002 he formed with Lorenzo Micheli "SoloDuo," a guitar duo that has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, the US, Canada, and Latin America. Since its inception, SoloDuo has been acclaimed from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Seoul’s Sejong Chamber Hall to Vienna’s Konzerthaus as one of the world's finest ensembles. About one of their performances, the Washington Post wrote: “Extraordinarily sensitive, with effortless command and an almost unbearable delicacy of touch, the duo’s playing was nothing less than rapturous – profound and unforgettable musicianship of the highest order.”

A student of Renzo Doria Miglietta in his hometown of Imperia, Matteo Mela moved to Cremona to pursue studies in musicology at that city's University. In Cremona he met Giovanni Puddu, who played a major role in his musical education. At the same time, Mela attended the classes of Angelo Gilardino, Alirio Diaz, Oscar Ghiglia, David Russell, and the Assad brothers. Matteo Mela has studied chamber music at the Accademia Pianistica di Imola with Dario De Rosa, Alexander Lonquich, and Pier Narciso Masi.

Matteo Mela records regularly for the Naxos, Mel Bay, and Stradivarius labels. A master teacher in great demand, he teaches at the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland.

Artist's website: soloduo.it/about/matteo-mela