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A Conversation with James Stroud About His Youth Guitar Competition

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by Daniel Hathaway

On Sunday, June 4, after all the professional classical guitarists have played their recitals at the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, the next generation of artists will take over Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

The semi-final rounds of the James Stroud Youth Competition are scheduled for Saturday morning and afternoon, June 3m and the final round will close the Festival on Sunday evening, June 4. Fifteen young musicians will play on Saturday, and the remaining four will perform in the final round on Sunday evening at 6:30. The final round is free, and will be available on a live stream. Click here for the list of contestants and their performance schedule.

On Wednesday, I spoke to James Stroud, the generous founder of the Stroud Competition as he was packing to travel to Cleveland, to ask how arrangements were shaping up for the Youth Competition this weekend.

James Stroud: I live in Montana now and so I’m getting ready to fly into Cleveland tonight for the festival, but taking care of a lot of logistics, so it’s been a little busier than normal, but all in all, very good. [Read more…]

Stroud Classical Guitar Competition: Final Round to go online Friday

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by Daniel Hathaway

The Second Annual James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition, like last year’s contest, has been conducted entirely online due to the pandemic. The young competitors have submitted videos in lieu of in-person appearances, and the final round, featuring the four remaining guitarists, will go online on Friday, June 18, at 7:30 pm.

Ethan Boyers, 16, from Santa Rosa, California, Jack Davisson, 16, from Palo Alto, California, Patricia Hernandez, 17, from Miami, Florida, and Eric Wang, 17, from San José, California will be competing for cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000.

Hudson resident James Stroud, who launched his competition twenty years ago, decided to change its emphasis beginning last year, focusing on 14-18 year olds and holding it during the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. In a telephone conversation, he said that although the pandemic has been a disaster for so many musicians’ lives and livelihoods, the 2021 competition is looking good.

“We had fewer applicants this year, but the level of playing seemed to be higher,” he said, partly attributing that to the fact that the 2020 competition had intended to bring fifteen semifinalists to Cleveland, but that this year’s contest was planned as an online event from the beginning. [Read more…]

Stroud Classical Guitar Competition goes digital, with finals this weekend 

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by Daniel Hathaway

Among the many best-laid plans that went awry when the coronavirus pandemic came to town was the premiere of James Stroud’s new Classical Guitar Competition, reconfigured for young guitarists ages 14 to 18, and scheduled to make its debut during the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival last May at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

The contest goes on this weekend, thanks to digital technology. The four contestants who have advanced so far via preliminary video performances have sent in final round videos for streaming on Friday, October 16. After vetting by a panel of judges, prizes of $10,000, $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000 will be awarded.

Hudson resident James Stroud launched his competition 20 years ago, and decided to change its emphasis and move it to CIM after holding previous contests at the University of Akron and Oberlin. “I always wanted to turn this into a national thing,” he said in a recent telephone conversation. “When I asked a number of guitarists and teachers how I could make the greatest impact, they advised me to concentrate on high school students.

“There are great kids coming up. I knew that Armin Kelly’s Festival at CIM was the best in the country, I love Mixon Hall, and (CIM President) Paul Hogle was super responsive to the idea.” Then the virus hit. When Kelly postponed his 2020 Festival, Stroud decided to move his competition online. [Read more…]

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