THREE DECADES OF INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION CALLED BY THE LLOBET COMPETITION
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An annual event with international guitar in Barcelona since 1995
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The registration period will end on Sunday, October 19
Barcelona | April 6, 2025 | 7:00 p.m.
This year we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first edition of the Barcelona International Guitar Competition, a tribute to María Luisa Anido, which took place from January 24 to 27, 1995, under the direction of its founder, the Chilean maestro Eulogio Dávalos. It was an opportunity to organize a selfless event, which teachers and professors called for as a collective need.
After the competition, the distinguished Lady of the Guitar, María Luisa Anido, in an act of generosity, requested that the recognition of the event be redirected to honor her beloved teacher, the Catalan guitarist and composer Miquel Llobet.
Thus, after ten years of tireless efforts, in 2005 the event received the necessary public support to confirm its second edition, at which point it officially became the Miquel Llobet Barcelona International Guitar Competition, doing justice to this forgotten virtuoso from Barcelona, known worldwide for popularizing traditional Catalan songs.
In 2025, the Llobet Interpretation Competition presents a repertoire of valuable composers, highlighting original works and arrangements of refined technique and complex sonic beauty.
In the first round, the Classification phase, we present L’Arlésienne, an exquisite transcription by Miquel Llobet of the incidental music from Alphonse Daudet’s melodrama by the great French composer Georges Bizet, marking the 150th anniversary of his death. The other piece will be Gymnopédie No. 1 by Erik Satie, another great French composer, on the centenary of his passing.
In the second round, the Semifinal, participants will perform Humorada by the pianist from Mataró, Francesca Madriguera—better known as Paquita Madriguera—who dedicated the work to her husband Andrés Segovia and whose 125th anniversary is celebrated this year. This stage will close with the piece awarded First Prize at the 2024 Llobet Composition Competition, Tríptico de la Luz by Madrid-based composer Santiago Abadía.
In the final and third round, the Final, the finalists will refine their musical skills by choosing one of two works to perform with the Brossa Quartet: either the third movement, III. Eine kleine Tagmusik from Die Vögel, op. 21, by Mexican composer Eduardo Angulo, or Quatre Dibuixos per a Guitarra i Cordes by Catalan composer Llorenç Balsach.
As we say every year, we hope this occasion of personal growth will inspire and promote new artistic challenges.