VII The Time of the Guitar International competition & festival

The International Guitar & Composer Competition & Festival «The Time of the Guitar» has been in existence since 2019 and includes a competition of classical guitar performers, a competition of composers and a festival program. Every year, the best compositions for guitar are selected and included in the mandatory program of the contestants, which contributes to the expansion and renewal of the professional repertoire of guitarists.

Over the course of the competition and festival’s existence, its participants have included more than 800 guitarists and composers from 22 countries around the world. The jury and artists were such famous guitarists as Stefan Rak (Czech Republic), Johan Fostier (Belgium), Mauricio Diaz Alvarez (Mexico), Marco Del Greco (Italy), Pavel Kukhta (Belarus), Daniel Bolshoy (Canada), Junhong Kuang (China), Aishegul Koca (Turkey), Roman Smirnov (Israel), Dimitris Regginos (Cyprus), Russian guitarists Dmitry Illarionov, Dmitry Borodaev, Sergey Rudnev, Evgeny Finkelstein, Anton Baranov, Roman Zorkin, Victoria Naletova, Gleb Okunev (flamenco guitar), conductors David Gomez Ramirez (Spain), Jeremy Walker (Great Britain), Russian composers Vladislav Agafonnikov, Valery Kikta, Igor Rekhin, Harry Wessman (Finland), Andrea Scalmana (Italy) and many others. 

The winners are awarded handmade guitars crafted by the best domestic guitar makers, including Ivan Steklyannikov, Alexander Usov, David Mirumyan, Alexander Pashentsev, Alexander Koshelev, Roman Blagodatskikh, Vladislav Novosyolov, guitars from the NewtoneGuitars and Yamaha factories, strings, sheet music, and professional accessories from the festival’s partners. The laureates of the “The Time of the Guitar” competition are traditionally included in the concert programs of the Moscow International Association of Guitar Art.

The seventh international guitar competition and festival “The Time of the Guitar” will be held from December 1st to 6th, 2026, in Moscow, in  live/online formats. The traditional Gala concert of the festival’s artists and jury will take place at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Concerts for guitar with a symphony orchestra will be performed in the cathedral’s magnificent acoustics. As part of the “The Time of the Guitar” festival program, concerts of chamber music will also be held, performed by stars of guitar art.

The organizer  is the Moscow International Guitar Art Association.

The artistic director of the festival – Dmitry Borodaev.

Partners & sponsors:
Italian Commission of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Committee of Public Relations and Youth Policy of the City of Moscow
Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory
The Corpus Juris Company
Guitar lutier Ivan Steklyannikov
Aquila
D`Addario
NewtoneGuitars
Dynaton
Root Note
Charitable Foundation "Artbene"
Radio "Orpheus"
Information Agency "Musical Klondike"
Information portal "Guitar Magazine"
Photographer Denis Evseev
All-Russian Youth Guitar Competition "Guitar in Gnesin’s school"