{"id":7244,"date":"2017-06-27T11:30:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T18:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=7244"},"modified":"2017-06-30T15:16:29","modified_gmt":"2017-06-30T22:16:29","slug":"tengyue-zhang-wins-icac-competition-other-results-plus-solo-duo-and-more-report-from-gfa-pt-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/tengyue-zhang-wins-icac-competition-other-results-plus-solo-duo-and-more-report-from-gfa-pt-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Tengyue Zhang Wins ICAC Competition! Other Results, Plus Solo Duo and More: Report from GFA, Pt. 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Blair Jackson<\/strong><\/p>\n

The final day (June 24) of this year\u2019s GFA<\/a> in Fullerton, California, turned out to be quite a day for the Chinese: Tengyue Zhang<\/strong>, who was so impressive in every round of the International Concert Artist Competition (ICAC), managed to take first place in what everyone agrees was a dynamite field of wonderful players. He won over the judges with a sterling rendition of the Bach\u00a0Chaconne<\/em>, a bold choice for sure. The great Sharon Isbin celebrated his achievement on Facebook: \u201cBravo to my brilliant student Tengyue Zhang for your 1st Prize win tonight at the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Competition! It’s a joy to teach you at The Juilliard School these last 5 years, & previously at the Aspen Music Festival and School! You played magnificently at GFA 2017, like a true & deep artist, w\/ courage, dedication, beautiful musicianship & stunning virtuosity, all in the service of the music. Your 50-concert winner’s tour awaits!\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming in second was Andrea De Vitis<\/strong> of Italy, third was Alec Holcomb<\/strong> of the U.S., and fourth was Australia\u2019s Andrey Lebedev<\/strong>; congratulations one and all!<\/p>\n

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The Fantastic Four are honored: (Lto R) Andrey Lebedev, Alec Holcomb, Andrea De Vitis, and grand winner Tengyue Zhang. Photo: Kenneth Kam for GFA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Chinese guitarist also won the top slot in the Senior Division of the Youth Competition: Shilong Fan<\/strong>. Alberto Daniel Quintanilla<\/strong> of Mexico placed second, Xu Kun Liu<\/strong> of Canada, was third, and Yun Duan<\/strong> of China, fourth.<\/p>\n

In the Junior Division of the Youth Competition the order of placement was 1: Leonora Spangenberger<\/strong> (Germany), 2: Gwenyth Aggeler<\/strong> (USA); 3: Eric Wang<\/strong> (USA); 4: Marc Saura<\/strong> (USA)<\/p>\n

This was the first year for the GFA\u2019s International Ensemble Competition (a great idea!) and the results were as follows: Large Ensemble Artist Division: Octeto Sicar\u00fa<\/strong> (1), The Green Room Arts Senior<\/strong> (2); Small Ensemble Artist Division: Erlendis Quartet<\/strong> (1), Vickers Bovey Duo<\/strong> (2), Ziggy\u00a0and Miles Johnston<\/strong> (3); Large Ensemble Youth Division: Austin Bella Corda<\/strong> (1); California Conservatory of Guitar<\/strong> (2), The Green Room Arts Youth<\/strong> (3); Small Ensemble Youth Division: Felice Guitar Quartet<\/strong> (1), Davidson Duo (2), Pasadena Conservatory (3)<\/p>\n

The big news out of the way, let’s go back in time to the previous day (June 23) and talk a bit about the concluding regular concert at the Little Theatre on Friday night.<\/p>\n

Solo Duo Shines Brightly with Scarlatti, Beethoven, et al
\n<\/strong>Solo Duo<\/a>\u2014Italians Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Mecheli\u2014have built a sterling reputation through the years, so their appearance at GFA was greatly anticipated; indeed they were the only performers I saw who were greeted by whoops, whistles, and raucous cheers. It didn’t take long for them to demonstrate why they are so revered. During the short opening Scarlatti pieces, the pair effortlessly traded lines and roles (melody, counterpoint, “bass” accompaniment),back and forth, fluidly, perfectly in sync. This is the joy of watching a great duo\u2014plugging into to that truly telepathic communication between the players. And speaking of great duos, one of the highlights of the first half of Solo Duo’s program was a flawless and exciting take on Rodrigo’s Tonadilla<\/em>, written in 1959 for the legendary Presti-Lagoya Duo (Ida Presti died 50 years ago this past spring).<\/p>\n

After the intermission, the duo came back and performed two large pieces, both exceptional, stylistically variegated, and well-known pieces from the classical piano canon: Debussy’s gorgeous Suite Bergmasque<\/em>, the third movement of which is the sublime “Clair de lune” (often played alone, solo and in duos, by classical guitarists); and what may well have been my favorite performance of the four days’ worth of music I saw at GFA: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14, “Quasi una fantasia,” Op. 27 No. 2<\/em>, popularly known at the “Moonlight Sonata.” The first movement (“Adagio sostenuto”) is among the most well-known themes in western music, yet it felt completely fresh and was exquisitely nuanced in Solo Duo’s rendering. But the final “Presto agitato” is where the fireworks really occur in this piece\u2014it’s powerful, driving, and propulsive, with a number of fortissimo<\/em> passages and bursts of notes that require intricate fingering, but Solo Duo charged through it with utter confidence and command. It was breathtaking!\u00a0Solo Duo’s encore selection was a surprise (at least to me): a lovely work played on Theorbo and Baroque guitar.<\/p>\n