Italian guitarist Pietro Locatto has triumphed at the Adelaide International Classical Guitar Competition, winning the First Prize of a Jim Redgate guitar valued at AUD $23,000 and an invitation to perform at the next Adelaide Guitar Festival, including all travel expenses. While the final round of the competition is usually held at the Adelaide Festival Centre, this year the winner was decided based on video entries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pietro Locatto. Photo courtesy of Adelaide Guitar Festival

Locatto’s winning performances included Free Range by Ken Murray, the first movement from Frank Martin’s Quatre Pièces Brèves, and the fugue movement from Bach’s BWV 914 keyboard Toccata.

“I have a friend who has visited Australia many times who told me about the competition. I recorded my entries while Italy was in lockdown, and have also been teaching online and working on various projects and recordings,” said Locatto.

“I am really excited to have won my first Australian guitar competition, and I look forward to coming to the next Adelaide Guitar Festival. Also the Jim Redgate guitar will be a welcome addition to my collection. My father is a guitar maker, so lucky for me I...