Matthew McAllister

Here are some images from the 2011 Guitar Gems Festival in Netanya, Israel. Aisling Agnew and I gave the Opening Night Concert and then adjudicated on the various competitions that took place during the course of the festival.

The festival has a very vibrant and friendly atmosphere and is open to everyone, inviting musicians and participants from all over the world. It makes a point of having no connection with the politics of the region and has an emphasis in the very positive connections made by making music. 

Aisling and I arrived early and spent some time exploring Jerusalem and the Old City, this is reflected in some of the images above.

Also performing at the festival and at the head of the jury was the French guitarist and composer Roland Dyens. It was fascinating to meet Roland to hear his beautiful concert. In the very near future Aisling and I will be looking at a sonata he has very recently written for flute and guitar.  

Guitar Gems had a huge entry for the competitions with players travelling from England, Russia, Germany, Tartarstan, Kazakhstan, Israel, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Belarus to compete.

Two wonderful performances over two rounds including repertoire by Giuliani and Paganini won Vera Danilina first prize in the Youth Competition. Vera is a name to look out for, very expressive and incredibly talented at just 12 years old!

Very confident, expressive and experienced playing over two rounds by Artyom Dervoed won him first prize in the Adult Competition.

Special mention must be made of Pavel Kukhta who showed moments of brilliance during his first round! Pavel placed second overall.

On the last night of the festival Aisling joined Russian guitarist Sergei Matokhin and the local Orchestra under conductor Ronen Nisan to perform Piazzolla’s double concerto in the stunning setting of Netanya’s Amphitheatre.

Below you can see a video from the concert including a comedy introduction to some Scottish Lute Pieces!