After a highly competitive final round, Chad Ibison, a master’s student at UT, took home first prize. Another Austinite, Vijay Meunier, won first prize in the high school division of the competition. Both are friends of mine, and I am proud of them! That Austin took home two of the three top prizes in this international competition is a testament to the strength of the classical guitar community in this city.
Duo Melis played a wonderful concert last night to close the festival. My favorite piece on the program was Enrique Granados’s Valses Poeticos which the duo played with brilliance and nuance. The best part of the performance, however, was the duo’s impeccable togetherness. Through all the fast scales, lyrical rubato, and complex rhythms, the duo maintained its balance and cohesion. There is nothing more exciting and beautiful than world class chamber music, and this concert was no exception.