Adelaide Guitar Festival’s Winter School and a special 10 Year Anniversary for Adelaide Guitar Festival Orchestra

With a focused programme between 12 to 15 Sep in and around Adelaide Festival Centre, audiences will experience world-class guitarists coming together to deliver an exciting programme of events at AFC’s Adelaide Guitar Festival.   

Adelaide Guitar Festival Winter School conducted by Paul Svoboda (Photo credit: Claudio Raschella)

In 2024, the festival’s activities will extend around the year, with the ever-popular Winter School holiday programmes, and the beloved On the Road tours heading to the regions of South Australia in Autumn and Spring.  

Winter School returns with a week-long course that provides an opportunity to learn from some of Australia’s finest guitarists in an intimate and immersive group which focuses on guitar playing and intensive skills development.  

In 2024, two programmes are on offer from 15 – 19 Jul – Blues & Roots and Adelaide Guitar Festival Orchestra.  

The Blues & Roots programme focuses on chord progressions, creative song writing, collaborative development, and blues guitar techniques which aids participants with the skills required to take the next step in their contemporary playing journey. This stream is led by special guest tutors and is aimed at players of all ages from beginner to intermediate level.  

Adelaide Guitar Festival Orchestra focuses on nylon string and classical techniques, ensemble playing, and music reading development. Led by composer, musician and educator, Paul Svoboda, participants will rehearse and come together for a full orchestral performance celebrating Adelaide Guitar Festival Orchestra’s 10th Birthday in a concert during the festival in September. The programme is open to players of all ages with recommended AMEB Grade 3 level (Australian Music Examination Board).  

For further details and to register for participation in Winter School visit https://guitar.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/about/guitar-winter-school  

Adelaide Guitar Festival Winter School conducted by Paul Svoboda (Photo credit: Claudio Raschella)

In addition to Winter School, the Adelaide International Classical Guitar Competition, returns in 2024. The most prestigious guitar competition in the Southern Hemisphere, this highly esteemed annual event has served as a springboard for numerous up-and-coming artists globally, including South Korean virtuoso Deion Cho, who earned the top prize in 2023.   

The Adelaide International Classical Guitar Competition has provided career-launching opportunities for ten incredible young guitarists. Previous winners include: 

• Jin-Hee Kim (South Korea) 2010 
• Andrey Lebedev (Australia) 2012 
• Bogdan Mihailescu (Romania) 2014 
• Marko Topchii (Ukraine) 2016 
• Miles Johnston (Australia) 2018 
• Andrew Blanch (Australia) 2019 
• Pietro Locatto (Italy) 2020 
• Pavel Ralev (Bulgaria) 2021 
• Connor Whyte (Australia) 2022 
• Deion Cho (South Korea) 2023

The Competition Final will be held on 15 Sept 2024.  

Adelaide Guitar Festival has been led by Artistic Director, Slava Grigoryan, since 2010. Regarded as a ‘wizard’ of the guitar, Slava has forged a prolific reputation as a classical guitar virtuoso. 

His relationship with Sony Classical, ABC Classics in Australia, ECM in Germany and his own label Which Way Music has led to the release of over 30 solo and collaborative albums spanning a vast range of musical genres.  

At the age of 18, his first tour was with guitar legends Paco Pena and Leo Kottke. Since then, he has travelled the world as a soloist in recitals and with orchestras in Europe, Asia and North America.