We are proud to feature emerging Australian talent, and Campbell Diamond has been making waves in recent years, receiving 22 international prizes for his performances around the world, including most recently the 1st prize, Bach Prize and Brouwer Prize at 5th Koblenz International Guitar Competition, Germany 2017. 

Campbell was also the recipient of an MGF Performance Scholarship award in 2015, and we are thrilled to invite him to open our 2019 Melbourne Guitar Fesival!

Concert includes complimentary Dainton Beer, Delinquente wine and cheese platters during intermission!

Formed in 2005, the Melbourne Guitar Quartet (MGQ) is a vibrant guitar based ensemble dedicated to the development of chamber music repertoire for the instrument. Utilising the unique concept of the Guitar Family of instruments (classical bass guitar, baritone guitar, standard guitar, treble guitar and octave guitar), the award-winning MGQ are continuously cultivating groundbreaking arrangements of major works for this idiom.  

This concert will feature French works, including the famous Suite Bergamasque by Debussy. A real treat for all music lovers!  

Made possible by the generous support of Dr Tom Chalko, The Australian Composer's Hour pays tribute to new and estabished works written by Australian Composers.  

After a stellar performance at our 2018 Guitar Festival (while suffering a fractured neck and back from a major car accident only weeks prior to the festival!!) we warmly welcome Harold Gretton back to the stage to present this all Australian concert!

Not only is Harold an extremely gifted performer, he is also a highly talented composer and ambassador of new music. A perfect fit to present this wonderful program of Australian music!  

Just promise us, no car accidents this time!! :O 

Derek Gripper is a classical guitarist who has taken a unique path. As a South African classical musician he felt limited by the music of the traditional classical guitar and so went on a journey through different musical styles, returning always to the guitar to find ways of bringing what he learned onto the instrument. 

This concert will explore the dialogue between the disparate styles that have informed his work to date: Kora, Bach, South African jazz, Contemporary Classical and large scale improvisations. 

Quotations of Bach, Malian songs, virtuosic kora compositions, Southern African bow music, and avant-garde Brazilian guitar music combine to create a new solo guitar which is at once intimate and explosive, improvised and composed, traditional and new.

Concert includes complimentary Dainton Beer, Delinquente wine and cheese platters during intermission!

Can't attend some of the concerts? This is a chance for you to see a "snapshot" of many of our festival artists! 

Led by Evan Hopkins, former MGF co-partner, this quartet sheds new light with ground-breaking arrangements of Radiohead for classical guitar quartet! 

Who ever said classical musicians can't rock out?!  

4 of the world's best classical guitarists compete for a first prize valued at approximately $10,000. Which includes a paid Australian Concert Tour and invitation to perform at the 2020 Melbourne Guitar Festival!

The winner of our 2018 International Concert Artist Competition, we proudly present Gian Marco Ciampa from Italy!

Gian Marco keeps a very busy international touring schedule, and frequently is invited to perform at Guitar Festivals and concert halls around the world, with previous appearances including the Manhattan Theatre of New York, Omis International Guitar Festival, “Santa Cecilia” Conservatoire in Rome, San Giacomo Festival (Bologna), Chitarrissima Guitar Festival (Torino), and Urayasu Concert Hall (Japan) to name a few!  

A true performer, Gian Marco impresses with his comanding stage presence, sensitive musicality and virtuosic technique!

"A true wunderkind with a strong musical personality, he is stepping into the limelight of the International music stage" - Il Tempo Newspaper