Spanish virtuoso guitarist Ricardo Gallén performs at a sold-out concert at Philharmonie Luxembourg on Friday 15 May 2026; Credit: Paulo Lobo

The fifth edition of the Luxembourg Guitar Festival concluded on Monday 18 May 2026, following six days of events across two weekends at the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, the Philharmonie Luxembourg and the Centre Culturel Bonnevoie.

The 2026 edition of the National Youth Competition, supported by Luxembourg’s Ministry of Education and aimed at young guitarists from Luxembourg born in 2005 or younger, took place at the Cultural Centre Bonnevoie on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 May, and saw 34 candidates from eight Luxembourg conservatoires and music schools take part.

This was followed by the semi-final round of the fifth edition of the International Classical Guitar Competition on Friday 15 May at the Luxembourg City Conservatory, where 29 candidates from 20 countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas took part before four candidates were chosen for the final round, which took place on Sunday 17 May at the Philharmonie Luxembourg.

The final was attended by around 100 spectators who saw first prize (City of Luxembourg Prize) awarded to Julio Robles (Mexico) who received €4,000. Second prize (Ministry of Culture Prize) was won by Yuheng Zhou (China) who received €2,000, third prize (Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg Prize) was taken by Stanislav Steshenko (Ukraine) who received €1,200 and fourth prize (Luxembourg Guitar Festival Prize) was presented to Amir Hossein Sheybani (Iran) who received €800. The Audience Prize was won by Stanislav Steshenko (Ukraine) who received €400.

As part of the festival, distinguished Spanish virtuoso guitarist Ricardo Gallén performed to more than 300 spectators at a sold-out concert at Philharmonie Luxembourg on Friday 15 May.

Outside of the competitions, the festival saw 80 active and passive participants attend the event’s masterclasses, 30 attendees take part in the conference on luthiery and 23 participants attended the continuing professional development course for music teachers.

The organisers said they were “proud that the festival was highly successful both among audiences and classical guitar enthusiasts, as well as among guitarists, whether professionals, amateurs, students or teachers”, and have announced that the sixth edition of the Luxembourg Guitar Festival will take place in May 2027.