RICHARDSON, Texas (March 25, 2005) — Isaac Bustos won the $3,000 first prize in the 4 th Annual Texas Guitar Competition, held last weekend at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) . The $2,000 award for second prize went to Marco Sartor of Uruguay, and French guitarist Thibault Cauvin took the $1,000 third prize.
Bustos, who is originally from Nicaragua, has performed extensively throughout the United States. His professor at The University of Texas at Austin, Adam Holzman, claims Bustos “is the finest performance student in the program and ranks in the top two or three performers that I have been associated with in my 20 years of teaching at the college level. He has a dazzling technique, the best sound (tone and volume) I have ever taught, a willingness to continue to learn and a natural and mature musicianship well beyond his years.”
In 2002, Bustos won first prize at the University of New Hampshire Concerto Competition and 2 nd prize at the Appalachian State University Solo Guitar Competition. In 2004, he won first prize at the Portland State Guitar Festival and International Competition (Portland State University, Portland, Oregon), first prize at the East Carolina Guitar Festival Competition (East Carolina State University, Greenville, N.C.), first prize at the St. Joseph International Guitar Festival and Competition (Missouri Western State College, St. Joseph, Mo.) and first prize at the Lachine International Guitar Competition (Lachine, Quebec).
Sartor has performed at concerts and festivals in the U.S., Mexico, Spain, Argentina and Uruguay. This former student of Eduardo Fernandez was a finalist at the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He won first prize in the 2002 Schadt String Competition, the 2003 MTNA Competition and last year’s the Appalachian Guitarfest Competition.
Sartor’s teacher, College of Charleston Associate Professor of Music Marc Regnier, says Sartor “is qualified musically and technically to enter the highest level of competition throughout the world.”
Cauvin, who is only 20 years old, has performed at numerous festivals, has played on radio stations around the world and recently released a CD, Thibault Cauvin Guítare. He continues to study classical guitar, a pursuit he began at the age of six. Olivier Chassain, Cauvin’s instructor, says he is impressed by the young man’s “flawless technique,” “beautiful musical expression” and “overflowing energy.”
In 2003 and 2004, Cauvin won more than 10 first prize awards in international competitions. His success led the Omni Guitar Foundation of San Francisco to choose him as one of the four world guitarists to take part in the Masters Guitar Competition in San Francisco last November, which he also won.
More information about the guitar competition can be found at http://ah.utdallas.edu/news_events/annual_guitar_competition.html
For information about the many musical, arts, theatre, dance and other performances and exhibitions held throughout the year at UTD, please call 972-UTD-ARTS (972-883-2787), e-mail utdarts@utdallas.edu, or visit the School of Arts and Humanities’ Web site at http://ah.utdallas.edu/. Persons with disabilities needing special accommodations may call 972-883-2982, Texas Relay Operator: 1-800-RELAYVV.
About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 14,000 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.