EVEN as teaching staff at the ANU School of  Music Students pack their bags to depart under the university’s new cost-cutting revisions, its students have carried off First and Second Prize in the Adelaide International Guitar Festival, the most important classical guitar competition in the Southern Hemisphere.

21 year-old Andrey Lebedev was announced as the winner of the Adelaide International Classical Guitar Competition on Saturday in the Adelaide Festival Centre’s Dunstan Playhouse.

The former Elder Conservatorium of Music student is, of course, now a student of the celebrated guitarist and teacher at the ANU, Timothy Kain, won $10,000 and a guitar made by respected maker Jim Redgate valued at $16,000.

In his 15 minute finals performance Lebedev performed Agustin Barrios Mangore’s “Una Limosne Por Amor Dios,” J.S Bach’s Allegro from Violin Sonato No.2 BWV 1003 and Alberto Ginastera’s Canto and Finale from “Guitar Sonata.”

Second prize of $4,000 was awarded to Stephanie Jones, who also studies at the ANU under Kain, while the third prize of $2,000 went to Ekachai Jearakul fromThailand.

Artistic director of this year’s International Guitar Festival, Slava Grigoryan, recalls, “I first met Andrey when he was nine years old, as I was giving a guitar workshop at his school. I remember being incredibly impressed back then by his high level of focus and musical ability.”

In its second year, the guitar competition attracted entrants from across the globe, with the 16 semi-finalists coming from Italy, Germany, France, Thailand, China and across Australia gathered in Adelaide this week to compete for a share of total prizes to the value of $31,000, , prizes supported by the Festival Centre Foundation, Jim Redgate Guitars and Marsh Australia.

The eight finalists were Lebedev (Australia), Samuel Klemke (Germany), Chun Xie (China), Claire Sannaikone (France), Daniel Nistico (Australia), Ekachai Jearakul (Thailand), Christopher Chidiac (Australia) and Stephanie Jones (Australia) and the internationals judging panel included familiarCanberrafaces, Minh le Hoang and Aleksandr Tsiboulski.