33rd Patras Guitar Festival 2026 — A Review (By Evangelos Assimakopoulos)

33rd Patras Guitar Festival 2026 — A Review
(By Evangelos Assimakopoulos)

 

With great joy, Lisa and I welcomed once again this year the students and friends of the classical guitar who registered to participate in the 33rd Patras International Guitar Festival. These participations, which for many years have exceeded one hundred (this year there were 108), demonstrate the interest that this four-day classical guitar festival arouses internationally and at the same time confirm the fact that this institution, which is held permanently in the same city, is nowadays one of the longest-running in the world.

 

Johan Fostier, Evangelos Assimakopoulos, Liza Zoe, Gabriel Bianco

 

In the beautiful concert hall of the ‘Patras Conservatory Philharmonic Society’, the lessons, lectures, Master classes, concerts and the competitions of the last day were held again this year with a large number of participants in the three Categories, as every year.

In the 33 years of the institution, our goal has always been, on the one hand, the invitation of leading foreign soloists of the instrument, who with their recitals and teaching would offer knowledge and experience, and on the other hand, the promotion of young talented Greek guitarists who, after a strict selection, would frame the festival. This year, this goal was once again crowned with success, both with the invitation of foreign soloists and with the selection of Greeks.

 

Gabriel Bianco

 

The recitals of the Frenchman Gabriel Bianco and the Belgian Johan Fostier were the highlight of a musical feast over the weekend. The two leading artists, holders of the first prizes of the most prestigious international GFA competition, confirmed their reputation with a difficult program. The two distinguished artists, beyond technical perfection and in-depth, imposing interpretation, had as their dominant element the quality of the sound, a sound that was transparent, resonant, velvety and full, obviously the result of a long-term research, which is ultimately the characteristic feature of the mature artist.

 

Johan Fostier

 

However, this was preceded by the recitals given on Friday and Saturday by three excellent young girls from Patras, Ioanna Lazari, Vasiliki Kydoniati and Konstantina Nikolakopoulou, who, fully justifying our choice, responded in the best possible way to their first public appearance. These are three talented young soloists who surprise not only with their complete technique and interpretive ability but mainly with their rare musical and expressive maturity for their age. I am sure that with the qualifications they possess and the tireless effort they make, their future is bright.

 

Finally, Apostolos Karpontinis, who completed the quartet of Greek soloists at this festival with his recital, had chosen to interpret six works by Isaac Albéniz in guitar transcriptions. There were moments of great beauty in his playing, especially in the slow parts where the guitar surpasses the piano in emotional elements, but also moments when Karpontinis, with his virtuosity and unbridled temperament, created an electrified atmosphere in the hall, resulting in the audience's reasonable apotheosis at the end.

 

Apostolos Karpontinis

Unfortunately, Lisa and I did not attend any of the foreign guitarists' Master classes, as we were teaching in other rooms at the same time. However, there was such great enthusiasm from the students who attended lessons or played for them that the admiration and appreciation they received for their contribution was not limited to their wonderful recitals.

 

The weekend’s afternoon lectures coincided with the same topic, which concerned the human encounter with artificial intelligence. The charismatic Tsambika Karakiza, known to the Patras audience from her amazing lecture three years ago, on Saturday thoroughly developed the relationship between creativity and AI, provoking a broad discussion with the participation of the audience, something that Kostas Grigoreas also achieved the other day in his own speech. The experienced guitarist and composer developed in his lecture the relationship between music and AI, raising the question ‘will robots ever play music?’.

 

Although there were no answers or conclusions and there cannot be any with certainty in our days, it was nevertheless worth reflecting on the questions, concerns and findings that emerged from these two very lively and extremely interesting speeches, which those who did not attend were unfortunately deprived of.

 

Kostas Grigoreas in his own lecture

 

Monday, the last day of the Festival, was, as every year, dedicated entirely to the competitions.

There was an impressive rivalry between the contestants of the second and third Categories which, from what we have been performed, in several cases troubled the committee itself.

On the contrary, in the first Category, 12-year-old Anastasia Kotanidou from Athens easily stood out with the Prelude no.1 by Villa-Lobos and the Etude no.9 by Carcassi, winning in addition to the First Prize a guitar donated by the Papagregoriou-Nakas Music House (panasmusic).

In the second Category, also awarded a guitar from the panasmusic House, the winner was 16-year-old Iasonas Pandis from Athens who performed Roland Dyens' work Saudade no.3 and a Prelude by Ponce.

Finally, the First Prize in the Grand Category was won by 23-year-old Nikos Argyris from Thessaloniki with Tedesco's Sonata and Dowland's Fantasia, winning as a prize the guitar offered by the guitar-maker Nicholas Ioannou from New York.
Nikos Argyris has also been invited to a recital at the 34th Patras Festival.

This year, for the first time, an ‘Award in memory of guitarist Yannis Mavreas’ was also presented, accompanied by a €500.- check sponsored by the Mavreas family “for the best interpretation in an early music work”. The award was won by 22-year-old Giorgos Grekis from Athens, who performed Bach’s Chaconne.

A common observation for those who attended the competitions was the fact that “the bar of performance rises impressively year after year”, as was characteristically said by a listener after the competitions.

All that remains is a big ‘thank you’ to the management of the ‘Patras Conservatory Philharmonic Society’ in whose concert hall the various events have been held all these years.

To the Greek-American guitar-maker Nicholas Ioannou from New York for his valuable contribution: a guitar of his own making as a prize for the winner of the Third Category, as well as to the Music House ‘Panasmusic’ for its contribution to the remaining prizes and awards of the competition in all Categories.

 

Looking forward with optimism to the 34th International Guitar Festival, Lisa and I are once again making our established appointment in Patras in April 2027.

Evangelos Assimakopoulos
(April 2026)