ENSEMBLE
COMPETITION
GUITAR FOUNDATION OF AMERICA
INTERNATIONAL
CONCERT
ARTIST
COMPETITION
ROUND 3
FINALS
LA AND BRUSSELS
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2021
10:00 AM PST
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES (LA FINALS)
Alan (XuKun) Liu, born in China in December of 2001, is a classical guitarist living
in Vancouver, Canada.
Alan Liu received his first national prize in Beijing in 2009. Since then, he has
received prizes in music competitions around the world. At 12-years-old, he received
first prize in the GFA International Youth Competition Junior Division and
Guitar Montreal International Youth Competition (2014). He won his first adult
competition at 13-years-old at the Northwest Guitar Festival and placed 2nd in the
Parkening International Youth Guitar Competition (2015), and also debuted in the
Vancouver Orpheum, playing for an audience of over 2400 people. At 14-years-old,
Alan won second prize at the GFA International Youth Competition Senior Division
(2016), and became the youngest guitar winner and Grand Award prize winner
at the Canadian National Music Festival (FMCF). He has won additional prizes
in North America, Europe, and Asia, including the most recent first prizes in the
Houston International Guitar Competition (2021) and Philadelphia Classical Guitar
Competition (2021).
As the first featured classical guitarist in CBC’s “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under
30” program (2016), Alan Liu has performed solo and chamber music in Canada,
USA, and China, as well as concerti with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and
Prince George Symphony Orchestra. He was also a featured artist at the Guitare
Montreal International Guitar Festival (2015), and was a featured artist and juror in
the QinLing International Guitar Festival (2018 & 2019).
Enrolled as a senior at the Curtis Institute of Music, Alan Liu currently studies with
David Starobin and Jason Vieaux. He works periodically with Daniel Bolshoy (UG)
and Rene Izquierdo (UWM), and has also studied with Michael Partington (UW)
and Jonathan Leathwood (DU), as well as Ping Jin and Xia Yang. Additionally,
he has participated in numerous masterclasses.
Bokyung Byun
Praised by Classical Guitar Magazine as “confident and quite extraordinary,”
Korean guitarist Bokyung Byunenjoys a reputation as one of the most sought-after
guitarists of her generation. Notably, she is the first female winner of the prestigious
JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition. This win is among
many wherein Ms. Byun excelled in the competitive circuit, including first-prize
finishes at the Frances Walton Competition, the Montreal International Classical
Guitar Competition, and the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Competition. A bevy
of orchestras, festivals, workshops, and guitar societies look to Ms. Byun for solo
performances and masterclasses. In recent seasons, Ms. Byun has performed as a
soloist with orchestras, including the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Utah Symphony,
West Los Angeles Symphony, among others. Ms. Byun’s debut recording has
been praised as “a very beautiful disc. From the first notes of the “Gallarda” from
Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Escarraman, we are treated to extraordinary musicianship,
technical assurance, and beauty of sound” (Soundboard Magazine). Ms. Byun holds
Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and a
Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES (BRUSSELS FINALS)
Lovro Peretić (b. 1995) is an international award-winning classical guitarist from
Zagreb, currently based in Geneva, where he is studying with Judicaël Perroy at the
Haute Ecole de Musique Genève. He started studying guitar at a young age under
the instruction of Professor Xhevdet Sahatxhija. After that, he graduated from the
Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Professor Darko Petrinjak, spending one
year in a student exchange program at L’École Supérieure Musique et Danse Hauts-de-
France in Lille (France) with Professor Judicaël Perroy.
Peretić is regarded as one of the leading guitarists of the younger generation, and
has won prizes from numerous competitions including Andres Segovia in Velbert
(Germany), Anna Amalia in Weimar (Germany), Zagreb Guitar Festival (Croatia),
Boris Papandopulo in Zagreb (Croatia), Antwerpen Guitar Festival (Belgium), Enrico
Mercatali in Gorizia (Italy), Fernando Sor in Rome (Italy), Volos Guitar Competition
(Greece), Concours international de guitare d’Antony (France), Peja Guitar Festival
(Kosovo), Sarajevo International Guitar Festival (B&H). In 2020, Peretić won the
3rd Eurostrings competition which brought him an opportunity to give concerts and
master classes throughout Europe, Asia and the United States.
As a soloist, Peretić regularly performs in various chamber music groups, including
a duo with violinist Katarina Kutnar and the guitar trio Evocación, who recently
released their first self-titled album. As a soloist, he has collaborated with the
Symphonic Orchestra of Croatian Radio Television, Dubrovnik Symphonic
Orchestra, and Zagreb Soloists, among others. Lovro was awarded Dean’s and
Rector’s prizes of University in Zagreb.
Marko Topchii was born to a family of musicians in Kiev, Ukraine and started
studying guitar at the age of four. He is 30 years old and is currently pursuing a
doctorate degree at the Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music in Kiev under
the guidance of Prof. Yuri Alexik, Honored Artist of Ukraine. He completed his
master degree in the National University of Arts in Kharkov in 2011, where he
studied under Prof. Volodymir Dotsenko, Honored Artist of Ukraine. Marko
has won more than 50 awards in international guitar competitions worldwide.
Among them are 26 first prizes from competitions in the United States, Mexico,
Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain,
Portugal, Liechtenstein, Serbia and Ukraine. Marko plays guitars made by Karl-
Heinz Roemmich, Yuichi Imai, Sakurai Kohno and Hong Sik Uhm. He has been a
D’Addario artist since 2012 and actively performs around the world.
ALAN (XUKUN) LIU
Oulan Bator Mathias Duplessy
(b. 1972)
Sound of The Three Gorges Yonghong Yao
(b. 1973)
Le Depart, Op. 31 Napoleon Coste
(1805-1883)
Shuo Chang Chen Yi
(b. 1953)
Open Up Your Ears Bryan Johanson
(b. 1951)
BOKYUNG BYUN
Adagio from Sonata No. 23 in D minor Carlos Seixas
Allegro from Sonata No. 24 in D minor (1704-1742)
(trans. Rebeca Oliveira)
Tre preludi mediterranei Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
I. Serenatella (1895-1968)
II. Nenia
Shuo Chang Chen Yi
(b. 1953)
Thème varié et finale (Manuscript Edition) Manuel Ponce
(1886-1948)
Presto, from Sonata for Guitar Nikita Koshkin
(b. 1956)
LOVRO PERETIĆ
Bottom’s Dream Hans Werner Henze
Shard Elliott Carter
Prelude, from BWV 1012 Johann Sebastian Bach
Mazurka appassionata Agustín Barrios Mangoré
Saturnal Maurice Ohana
Shuo Chang Chen Yi
(b. 1953)
MARKO TOPCHII
Shuo Chang Chen Yi
(b. 1953)
Sinfonia BWV 826 Johann Sebastian Bach
(arr. Tristan Manoukian)
Modest Mussorgsky (arr. K. Yamashita,
—a selection of Pictures at an Exhibition revised by M. Topchii)
Promenade
Gnomus
Promenade
The Old Castle
Tuileries
Promenade
Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
Limoges
Hut on Fowl’s legs (Baba Yaga)
The Golden Gates of Kyiv
For the first time in history, the Guitar Foundation of America held the
final round of the International Concert Artist Competition live on two
continents. In order to accommodate international travel restrictions, our
two North American based finalists, Bokyung Byun (South Korea) and
Xu Kun (Alan) Liu (Canada), competed in Los Angeles on October 22nd
at Loyola Marymount University; and our two European based finalists,
Lovro Peretić (Croatia) and Marko Topchii (Ukraine), competed in
Brussels at Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel on Sunday, October 24th,
hosted by Antigoni Goni (1995 GFA Winner).
These performances, both held in the presence of a live audience, were
recorded for deliberation by our distinguished jury. The entire final
round with all four competitors is being streamed today via GFAtv to
our international audience, and will conclude with the announcement
of the winners. You can watch the broadcast directly through the GFA’s
Facebook page or YouTube channel.
The GFA congratulates and thanks all of our competitors for their
perseverance and flexibility throughout the earlier rounds, and as we have
made arrangements for this unusual final round. The GFAtv premiere of
the finals will include behind the scenes footage which will enable viewers
to have unprecedented insight into the entire process.
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR JURY MEMBERS
Preliminary and Semifinal Rounds:
Denis Azabagic, Jeremy Jouve, Gaëlle Solal, Meng Su, Fabio Zanon
Final Round:
Dale Kavanagh, JIJI Kim, Jose Antonio Escobar, Juan Carlos Laguna,
Lorenzo Micheli, Ben Verdery, Xuefei Yang
Special thanks to the Augustine Foundation for endowing the
Rose Augustine Grand Prize of the International Concert Artist Competition.
