News & Press https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/default.asp Mon, 20 Jul 2026 06:09:25 GMT Wed, 25 Jun 2025 23:54:00 GMT Copyright © 2025 Guitar Foundation of America 2025 IYC Results! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=704509 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=704509

Congratulations to these amazing young guitarists whose skill and artistry were nothing short of astounding in their final round performances for the 21st edition of the GFA’s International Youth Competition. Our esteemed judges had the difficult task of whittling it down to only four per division, and then ranking them by their final round videos. Thanks to all who participated for their preparation and courage in sharing their music with us, this was a stunning final round!



IYC Junior Division (Ages 14 and under)
 
1) Miro Domazet, Age 14 (Croatia)
 
2) Catherine Huo, Age 13 (Canada)
 
3) Seoyun Park, Age 14 (South Korea)
 
4) Justin Chen, Age 13 (USA)
 
 
 
IYC Senior Division (Ages 15-18)
 
1) Guanru Li, Age 16 (China)
 
2) Haruka Lee, Age 17 (Japan/South Korea)
 
3) Chuyuan Huang, Age 17 (China)
 
4) Yiyi Li, Age 15 (China)
 

]]> Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:54:00 GMT The Guitar Foundation of America 2025 ICAC results are in! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=704508 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=704508 Rose Augustine Grand Prize:
Virgile Barthe (France)

2nd Place:
Muxin Li (China)

3rd Place:
Manuel Toucinho (Portugal)

4th Place:
Andrzej Grygier (Poland)

Congratulations to all of the incredible finalists for their hard work, perseverance, and masterful artistry. You have truly risen the bar of what can be achieved.


We look forward to seeing everyone in Denver at the 2026 GFA convention!

]]> Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:51:00 GMT 2025 IEC Results! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=704507 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=704507
We are excited to announce the results of the GFA 2025 International Ensemble Competition! We had so many wonderful competitors - the juries were certainly impressed. We thank everyone for participating, and for all of your hard work preparing for the competition. Bravi!

It is a pleasure to present you with the winners of the IEC:

1st Place: Bluvenduo (Canada/China) - Sebastian Robles, Zhanxiang Shi

2nd Place: Daniyah Guitar Duo (Switzerland) - Alice Brandão, Maja Kralj

3rd Place: Striago (Italy) - Mario Strinati, Pietro Agosti

4th Place: Roxane Elfasci & Baptiste Erard (France) 

Warmly,
Michael Kagan
International Ensemble Competition Artistic Director]]> Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:34:00 GMT 2025 IEC Finalists! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=696107 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=696107
We are excited to announce the finalists of the GFA 2025 International Ensemble Competition! We had so many wonderful competitors - the juries were certainly impressed. We thank everyone for participating, and for all of your hard work preparing for the competition. Bravi!

It is a pleasure to present you with the finalists of the IEC in no particular order:

Roxane & Baptiste 

Daniyah Guitar Duo

Striago

Bluvenduo 

Please join us at the University of Louisville to see these wonderful ensembles perform in the finals Saturday, June 21st! More info here.

We hope to see you there!

Warmly,
Michael Kagan
International Ensemble Competition Artistic Director]]> Fri, 14 Mar 2025 19:40:00 GMT 2024 IYC Results! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=688653 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=688653

Congratulations to these amazing young guitarists whose skill and artistry were nothing short of astounding in their final round performances for the 20th edition of the GFA’s International Youth Competition. Our esteemed judges had the difficult task of whittling it down to only four per division, and then ranking them by their final round videos. Thanks to all who participated for their preparation and courage in sharing their music with us, this was a stunning final round!



IYC Junior Division (Ages 14 and under)
 
1) Xuanyi Lu, Age 14 (China)
 
2) Nuttachai Chaivanich, Age 14 (Thailand)
 
3) Simon Nivy, Age 14 (Japan)
 
4) Yiyi Li, Age 14 (China)
 
 
 
IYC Senior Division (Ages 15-18)
 
1) Elle Davisson, Age 16 (United States)
 
2) Bihan Ren, Age 15 (China)
 
3) Preston Hong, Age 15 (United States)
 
4) Zehao Li, Age 17 (China)

]]> Sat, 7 Dec 2024 00:08:00 GMT The Guitar Foundation of America 2024 ICAC results are in! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=688652 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=688652 Rose Augustine Grand Prize:
Leonela Alejandro (Puerto Rico)

2nd Place:
Hao Yang (China)

3rd Place:
Dragos Ilie (Romania)

4th Place:
Francisco Luis (Portugal)

Congratulations to all of the incredible finalists for their hard work, perseverance, and masterful artistry. You have truly risen the bar of what can be achieved.


We look forward to seeing everyone in Louisville at the 2025 GFA convention!

]]> Fri, 6 Dec 2024 23:57:00 GMT 2023 IEC Finalists! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=634430 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=634430
We are excited to announce the finalists of the GFA 2023 International Ensemble Competition! We had so many wonderful competitors - the juries were certainly impressed. We thank everyone for participating, and for all of your hard work preparing for the competition. Bravi!

It is a pleasure to present you with the finalists of the IEC in no particular order:

Mēla Guitar Quartet 

Duo StriAgo

Cicchillitti-Cowan Duo 

MoNo Guitar Duo 

Please join us at the Manhattan School of Music to see these wonderful ensembles perform in the finals Saturday, June 24th! More info here.

We hope to see you there!

Warmly,
Michael Kagan
International Ensemble Competition Artistic Director]]> Sat, 11 Mar 2023 19:11:00 GMT GFA 2022 IYC Results! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=611645 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=611645
Congratulations to these amazing young guitarists whose skill and artistry were nothing short of astounding in their final round performances for the 18th edition of the GFA’s International Youth Competition. Our esteemed judges had the difficult task of whittling it down to only four per division, and then ranking them by their final round videos. Thanks to all who participated for their preparation and courage in sharing their music with us, this was a stunning final round!

A huge thanks to our judges: Junior Division (14 and under): Zoë Johnstone Stewart, Bokyung Byun, Gergely Szurgyi; and Senior Division (15-18): Bálint Varga, Isaac Bustos, and Meng Su.


IYC Junior Division (Ages 14 and under)
 
1) Elle Davisson, Age 14 (United States)
 
2) Emilia Diaz Delgado, Age 13 (Mexico)
 
3) Andrei Orasanu, Age 13 (United States/Romania)
 
4) Tae Kim, Age 11 (United States)
 
 
 
IYC Senior Division (Ages 15-18)
 
1) Reade Park, Age 17 (United States)
 
2) Ethan Boyers, Age 17 (United States)
 
3) Penelope Shvarts, Age 17 (United States)
 
4) Owen Wang, Age 16 (United States)
]]> Tue, 19 Jul 2022 01:05:00 GMT The Guitar Foundation of America 2022 ICAC results are in! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=611644 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=611644 Rose Augustine Grand Prize:
Lovro Peretić (Croatia)

2nd Place:
Marco Topchii (Ukraine)

3rd Place:
Mateusz Kowalski (Poland)

4th Place:
Ami Inoi (Japan)

Congratulations to all of the incredible finalists for their hard work, perseverance, and masterful artistry. You have truly risen the bar of what can be achieved.
We look forward to seeing everyone in person next year at the 2023 GFA convention!

 
]]> Tue, 19 Jul 2022 01:00:00 GMT GFA 2023 Required Piece https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=611611 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=611611 Prelude -Très Vite, BWV 995, by Bach.  The edition is left to the performer’s discretion.]]> Mon, 18 Jul 2022 21:33:00 GMT GFA 2022 Required Piece https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=587830 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=587830 Next year’s convention will take place June 27- July 2, 2022, in Indianapolis, Indiana.  The required piece for the International Concert Artist Competition will be Impromptus (1,2, 5 & 4) by Richard Rodney Bennett. 

Best of luck!

 

]]> Mon, 22 Nov 2021 17:15:14 GMT The Guitar Foundation of America 2021 ICAC results are in! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=585381 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=585381 Rose Augustine Grand Prize:
Bokyung Byun (South Korea)

2nd Place:
Lovro Peretić (Croatia)

3rd Place:
Marco Topchii (Ukraine)

4th Place:
Xu Kun (Alan) Liu (Canada)

Congratulations to all of the incredible finalists for their hard work, perseverance, and masterful artistry. You have truly risen the bar of what can be achieved.
We look forward to seeing everyone in person next year at the 2022 GFA convention!


]]> Mon, 1 Nov 2021 17:13:32 GMT Remembering David Grimes (1940-2021) https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=584286 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=584286 The GFA has lost another one of our giants. David Grimes passed away on October 18, 2021, after a courageous battle with cancer. We send our deepest condolences to his wife Cathy and their family. David was a staunch advocate for the guitar in so many ways -  as Director of the Classical Guitar Studies at Cal State Fullerton, and as a performer, composer, arranger, writer, and conductor of the Orange County Guitar Orchestra for many years.

David Grimes was first introduced to the guitar when he was a junior math major at Caltech and heard a recording of Andrés Segovia. He completed his degree in mathematics and subsequently worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for several years while he pursued his guitar studies with Guy Horn and Oscar Ghiglia. For eighteen years, he was President of the GFA and served the organization tirelessly. More recently, he was a Reviews Editor for Soundboard magazine. His Mel Bay editions of The Complete Sor Studies and The Complete Giuliani Studies are pedagogical staples.

In lieu of flowers, David’s family asks that donations be made to the GFA. We are truly humbled at his generosity of spirit that lives on through this request and are eternally grateful to him for his contribution in serving our organization. David was honored with the GFA Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Award in 2007.

 

David Grimes

 
]]> Thu, 21 Oct 2021 18:41:26 GMT Remembering Thomas Heck https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=582659 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=582659 The Guitar Foundation of America has lost an irreplaceable visionary. Thomas (Tom) F. Heck, one of the GFA’s original founders, passed away on October 3, 2021. We send our deepest condolences to his wife Anne and their family, along with the many friends and colleagues who will miss his calming presence at our annual convention, his historical research in our journals, and his wisdom in stewarding our organization for so many years of his life. 

Tom’s career was spurred by his deep love for the classical guitar, its music, and its legacy. He worked tirelessly throughout his life on research in the field of guitar history. In addition, his extensive scholarship on the life and music of Mauro Giuliani made him an authority beyond the guitar community. He founded the GFA Archives, the GFA Monograph Series, and Soundboard Scholar. Year after year, Tom made the trip to every GFA Convention to lead the Research Round Table and be with his extended guitar family from all over the world. Tom was awarded with the GFA Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Award in 2007. He was endlessly supportive of each new GFA program and always dreamed big for our organization since its founding in 1973. Our staff and members will miss him dearly.

Thomas Heck

]]> Thu, 7 Oct 2021 17:23:10 GMT 2021 International Concert Artist Competition Finalists! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=578377 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=578377 We had the honor of sharing videos from a very talented group of semifinalists from all over the world.  These competitors stuck it out through all kinds of changes and technology firsts, and brought their highest level of artistry to us via the GFA YouTube channel.  Our jury had the difficult job of choosing our finalists from this group.  We send a big thank you to Denis Azabagic, Jeremy Jouve, Gaelle Solal, Meng Su and Fabio Zanon for their work throughout the preliminary and semifinal rounds.  The jury has selected the following 4 competitors to advance to the finals:

  • Bokyung Byun, Korea
  • Xu Kun (Alan) Liu, Canada
  • Lovro Peretić, Croatia
  • Marko Topchii, Ukraine


Congratulations to our finalists!  The finals will be held this fall, date and location TBD, as we work through possibilities for a live finals given Covid restrictions of the moment.  We look forward to continue sharing the music of these fabulous young performers with you in the near future- stay tuned for more information!

]]> Mon, 30 Aug 2021 20:21:14 GMT GFA 2021 IYC Results! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=572193 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=572193  

Congratulations to these amazing young guitarists whose skill and artistry were nothing short of astounding in their final round performances for the 17th edition of the GFA’s International Youth Competition. 80 competitors were evenly distributed across the two age divisions. Our esteemed judges had the difficult task of whittling it down to only four per division, and then ranking them by their final round videos. Thanks to all who participated for their preparation and courage in sharing their music with us, this was a stunning final round!

A huge thanks to our judges: Junior Division (14 and under): Matthew Rhode, Tracy Anne Smith, Thomas Viloteau; and Senior Division (15-18): Scott Borg, Xavier Jara, and Meng Su.


IYC Junior Division (Ages 14 and under)
 
1) Yaroslav Romashev, Age 13 (Russia)
 
2) Sofia Zhernovykh, Age 13 (Ukraine)
 
3) Elizaveta Rakushina, Age 12 (Russia)
 
4) Xuanming Liu, Age 13 (China)
 
 
 
IYC Senior Division (Ages 15-18)
 
1) Jack Davisson, Age 16 (United States)
 
2) Mikhail Korotkov, Age 17 (Russia)
 
3) Reade Park, Age 16 (United States)
 
4) Ouyang Lin, Age 16 (China)
]]> Mon, 5 Jul 2021 19:36:32 GMT GFA 2021 IEC Results! https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=571142 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=571142
We are excited to announce the results of the GFA 2021 International Ensemble Competition! We had so many wonderful competitors - the juries were certainly impressed. We thank everyone for participating, and for all of your hard work preparing for the competition. Bravi!

It is a pleasure to present you with the winners of the IEC:

1st Place: Salzburg Guitar Trio (Canada/Germany/ England) - Andrew Booth, Stefan Volpp, Katie Lonson

2nd Place: Siberia Nueva (Russia) - Kuzma Filimonov, Mikhail Rakin

3rd Place: Cicchillitti-Cowan Duo (Canada) - Adam Cicchillitti, Steve Cowan

4th Place: MoNo Guitar Duo (Italy/Poland) - Giuseppe Molino, Anna Krystyna Nowicka

Please join us at the Awards Ceremony this Sunday, June 27th at 3 pm PDT, streamed live and free on our website, YouTube and Facebook pages.

We hope that you are enjoying the convention!

Warmly,
Michael Kagan
International Ensemble Competition Artistic Director
]]> Fri, 25 Jun 2021 05:22:57 GMT GFA's 2021 International Ensemble Competition Finalists https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=568612 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=568612 Below are the GFA's 2021 International Ensemble Competition Finalists. The final round will broadcast, Thursday, June 24th at 3:00 PM PST. We had 22 ensembles totaling 64 competitors from 15 different countries who vied for a coveted spot in the final round of the IEC.

 

MoNo Guitar Duo (Poland/Italy)

 

Salzburg Guitar Trio (Germany/Canada/England)

 

Cicchillitti/Cowan Duo (Canada)

 

Siberia Nueva (Russia)

 


A huge thanks to our esteemed judges: Gohar Vardanyan, Derek Gripper, Rémi Jousselme, Adam Levin, Raphaël Feuillâtre.
]]> Mon, 7 Jun 2021 22:36:52 GMT GFA’s 2021 International Youth Competition Finalists https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=568557 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=568557
Below are the GFA’s 2021 International Youth Competition Finalists, in the order that videos will be streamed on June 26th.
 
80 competitors, from 20 different countries vied for a coveted spot in the final round of the IYC. 

A huge thanks to our esteemed judges in each division: Junior Division (14 and under): Matthew Rhode, Tracy Anne Smith, Thomas Viloteau; and Senior Division (15-18): Scott Borg, Xavier Jara, and Meng Su. Comment sheets will be released later in June. 

IYC Junior Round

Sofia Zhernovykh, Age 13 (Ukraine)

Xuanming Liu, Age 13 (China)

Yaroslav Romashev, Age 13 (Russia)

Elizaveta Rakushina, Age 12 (Russia)

 

IYC Senior Round

Michael Korotkov, Age 17 (Russia)

Ouyang Lin, Age 16 (China)

Reade Park, Age 16 (United States)

Jack Davisson, Age 16 (United States)
 
]]> Mon, 7 Jun 2021 17:29:42 GMT ICAC Update https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=519809 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=519809 It is with great sadness that the Guitar Foundation of America announces the cancellation of the Semifinal and Final rounds of the 2020 International Concert Artist Competition.  Current local and international conditions have made it impractical for our semifinalists to gather, and we have made the decision that a fully online version of our event is not the route we’d like to pursue out of respect for the years of history of the competition and the legacy of our winners.  GFA joins the ranks of countless other organizations that will record a gap year for 2020.  We view this as preferable to crowning a winner who would always have an asterisk next to their name, regardless of the beauty of the playing. We hope the fans of this event will continue to show support to our twelve amazing semifinalists, whose level certainly rose to what we would have loved to hear in the next round; and we look forward to following all of them as they continue on their paths going forward.  Congratulations to Alec Holcomb, Jack Hancher, Oman Kaminsky Lara, Marco Piperno, Katarzyna Smolarek, Campell Diamond Marko Topchii, Ami Inoi, Francois-Xavier Dangremont, Bokyung Byun, Lovro Peretic, and Steve Cowan for their accomplishments in what we were able to achieve together in 2020.]]> Sun, 2 Aug 2020 17:46:06 GMT Semifinalists of the 2020 International Concert Artist Competition https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=514966 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=514966 Here are the semifinalists of the International Concert Artist Competition. The semifinals and finals are tentatively scheduled for October 2-3, 2020 in Los Angeles.

Alec Holcomb, USA 
Jack Hancher, United Kiingdom 
Oman Kaminsky Lara, Mexico/Poland 
Marco Piperno, Italy 
Kasia Smolarek, Poland
Campbell Diamond, Australia
Francois-Xavier Dangremont, France
Topchii Mark, Ukraine 
Inoi Ami, Japan  
Bokyung Byun, South Korea 
Lovro Peretić, Croatia 
Steve Cowan, Canada 

GFA 2021
Next year’s convention will take place June 21-26, 2021, in Fullerton, California. The required piece for the International Concert Artist Competition will be Shuo Chang, by Chen Yi. 

]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2020 20:29:52 GMT GFA 2021 Required Piece https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=514948 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=514948 Next year’s convention will take place June 21-26, 2021, in Denver, Colorado.

 The required piece for the International Concert Artist Competition will be Shuo Chang, by Chen Yi. 

ICAC Competitors are required to use the revised edition for the 2021 competition.

Please be sure to order SHUO CHANG (revised edition, 2020), catalog number 114 – 42214 (Presser).

The new version is available for purchase from any sheet music dealer, or directly from

www.presser.com/114-42214. There is also a digital download version at
www.presser.com/114-42214D. The digital download is only available directly from the Presser website and it downloads directly to the Newzik app. 

If you purchase a copy of SHUO Chang between June 27 and July 13, 2020, please contact the GFA for a free digital download of the revised edition upon submission of your receipt.


]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2020 19:47:52 GMT COMPETITION RESULTS https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=514940 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=514940
A big congratulations to all of our competitors for all of their hard work! Here are the results of the International Youth Competition:

Junior Division
1st: Buliao Que (China)
2nd: Qianzheng Wang (China)
3rd: Tudor Torge (Romania)
4th: Mikhail Likhachev (Russia)

Senior Division
1st: Eric Wang (US)
2nd: Aytahn Benavi (US) 
3rd: Xu Kun (Alan) Liu (Canada)
4th: Ruien Li (China) 
]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2020 19:16:17 GMT A Statement from the GFA https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=511598 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=511598 Dear Friends,
We at the Guitar Foundation of America are grieving. We are heartbroken by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others who came before them; we are devastated by the wide-ranging and ongoing injustices born from systemic racism that still persists in the United States of America.
We condemn racism and the treatment of any human being as less than equal. We recognize the inequities that exist in the classical music world, and in the guitar world specifically. We remember that the guitar itself came to the Americas through the hands of conquistadors, that there is a story in our very instrument which seeks redemption and renewal through performances by people of every color, race, gender, religion, and socioeconomic background. 
At a time when we feel frustrated and helpless, what can we do as individuals, what can we do as an organization?
  • We can speak when we witness injustice, implicit bias, or microaggressions.  
  • We can work harder to address equity of all kinds in the events that we produce.  
  • We can find ways to increase support for people doing great work around equity in arts education at the local level.  
  • We can listen to and work with our community to improve our effectiveness at all of the above.  
  • And we can learn to do all of this with great empathy and care for one another, allowing our earnestly rising tide to lift all of our boats.
This is a moment in which we turn to the guitar to express all the things that we cannot say with words - to express the gravity of injustice in this nation, and to hold for us the emotions that accompany tragedy and devastation, allowing our hearts to heal as we work towards a better world, in solidarity with one another.
We want to start that healing by opening the floor to hear the thoughts of our community on how we can better serve the mission of the GFA by improving our commitment to equity, and what that would look like to you. To that end, we will convene a Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, June 25th at 10am Pacific Daylight Time (please check for your local time). The discussion welcomes your thoughts on diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion. Keep an eye on our social media for how you can have a voice in that conversation.  
Following these conversations, the GFA team will begin exploring the creation of an official Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion Statement that we hope can serve as a guide for all guitar organizations internationally; one that has roots in your thoughts, and is guided by the wisdom of leaders in the field. We welcome your voice, via participation in the Town Hall, via email feedback, via a conversation. If you have general thoughts/observations that you’d like to share on the subject, please send them to equity@guitarfoundation.org.  
“When my heart has been so overwhelmed by emotions that words or thoughts become inadequate, it always has been music that came to the rescue, impregnated by love and peace.” 
- Pepe Romero
Yours in Peace and Hope,

Brian Head, Artistic Director
Michael Jones, Social Media Coordinator
Martha Masters, President
Stephen Mattingly, Chair of the Board of Trustees
Connie Sheu, General Manager
]]> Mon, 8 Jun 2020 17:50:09 GMT GFA 2020 Competition Updates https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=501495 https://www.guitarfoundation.org/news/news.asp?id=501495 The rules for the 2020 GFA International Concert Artist Competition and International Youth Competition have been updated in light of COVID-19. The International Ensemble Competition will not be held this year. Please find the complete rules and procedures here: ICAC and IYC. We look forward to your participation!]]> Mon, 13 Apr 2020 22:58:11 GMT