| 2025 International Youth Competition - Senior Division |
International Youth Competition (IYC), Senior DivisionWelcome to our International Youth Competition page, Senior Division. Directly below is a detailed overview with important dates and guidelines for the International Youth Competition at the GFA now entering its 21st year. Please note that the IYC will take place just before and during the start of the Convention. This allows competitors to take part in many other opportunities throughout the week, including our new Bridge program (for ages 11-18), and more. The IYC final round will kick off the entire convention on Monday evening! Important Dates
WhereUniversity of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA. For WhomGuitarists who are between 15-18 years of age on June 16th 2025. Required PieceOne solo from the Heitor Villa-Lobos Complete Works for Solo Guitar, Editions Max Eschig. HowFirst, become a member of the GFA (if you are not already!) Join Here. Register and pay for the event in your correct age category. Then remember to submit repertoire by the deadline! Submit your repertoire here before May 15th, 2025. *Membership is required, and is the first step, but you must register for the competition after becoming a GFA member. Siblings must register for the competition separately, with their own membership. Registration must happen under the name of the competitor, not the parent or guardian. Be prepared to submit proof of age upon registering and remember to check the email you used for registering for important information. PrizesJim and John D’Addario First Prize: $2,000 2nd Prize: $1,000 3rd Prize: $750 4th Prize: $500 **Other prizes include: Strings generously donated by D’Addario, Savarez, and Augustine Gift Certificates from Guitar Solo Publications (GSP); Kling-On Products, and gift certificates from Strings By Mail. *All amounts subject to 30% withholding for non-US citizens.
ApplicationApplication and Fees must be submitted and paid ONLINE no later than 11:59PM EST May 1, 2025. No late entries will be considered. Proposed Preliminary and Final Program must also be submitted by the May 15th deadline. The link to the program form will be made available on the IYC site, please use the link that coincides with your division. Check the email address you used during registration for important information including links and updates. Payment of all Entry Fees is due in full at time of registration. Competition DetailsPreliminary & Final Rounds Xavier Jara Matthew McAllister Tracy Anne Smith Eligibility This competition is open to competitors of any nationality who are between 15-18 years of age, through to the date of the competition finals on June 16th, 2025. Competitors cannot be represented by professional management. The competition is limited to the first forty-five (40) applicants with all required materials submitted to the GFA by the stipulated deadlines. First Place-winners from any previous IYC are not eligible for the same age group but have the option of competing up one age level (so in this case, a former IYC Junior Division 1st place winner can compete in the IYC Senior Division even if they are under 15 years of age). However past winners of Junior and Senior Divisions may not compete in the ICAC (International Concert Artist Competition) unless they have reached the minimum age requirement (18). All registrants under the age of 18 at the time of the convention must be accompanied by an adult chaperone (with a paid pass) for the duration of their stay. Minors are not allowed on the premises unless accompanied by an adult. The GFA does not take responsibility for any minor during their stay. Competitors must participate in the division corresponding with their birthdate, with the exception that past winners of the Junior Division are eligible to compete in the Senior Division. However past winners of Junior and Senior Divisions may not compete in the ICAC (International Concert Artist Competition) unless they have reached the minimum age requirement (18). All decisions regarding eligibility are made by the IYC Artistic Director, Lynn McGrath. Deadline May 1st, 2025. Entries with all fees and application materials must be received by the GFA no later than the above deadline. No late entries will be considered. Mandatory Competitor's Meeting Saturday at 5pm, June 14th, 2025. The exact location is to be determined, but it will be in a location at the University of Louisville’s School of Music. Attendance at the competitor’s meeting is required of all competitors. Procedures will be reviewed, and afterwards, there will be a brief tour of the venue. Important Note Competitors who do not upload appropriate age verification with their registration are required to bring documentation to the competitor's meeting. Identification must include a date of birth. Competitors who do not present appropriate materials will be allowed to perform for evaluation by the jury but will not be eligible for advancing to the finals of the competition. If you encounter a travel delay which prevents you from attending the meeting, you must provide proof upon arrival of earlier travel plans. Should you have another event conflict with the competitors' orientation meeting and do not attend, the competitor will only be permitted to perform for evaluation and will be ineligible to compete for competition prizes. About one week after the May 1st registration deadline, a reminder email will be sent out to all registrants with a link for submitting a list of repertoire for the preliminary and final rounds as well as an HD photo for the program. This link will also be available on this page if you are logged in to the GFA site as a member. This form is due by May 15th. Once the deadline is reached, repertoire content submitted cannot be changed for the competition, though the order of the pieces may be changed at any time. Competition Procedures A list of preliminary round times will be e-mailed to each competitor a few weeks before the start of the convention. Order is determined by random number generating software. Any additional info on the check-in for the IYC Mandatory Competitors' Orientation will be provided by email communication. Preliminary Round Procedures Competitors should be near the judging venue, ready to perform, at least 30-45 minutes before their scheduled time. This is necessary in the event judging runs ahead of schedule. Competitors should bring only their guitar (without the case) and guitar elevation device or footstool into the judging venue. Footstools will not be provided. Be certain to tune the instrument before entering the judging venue. Performers are allowed to check tuning once inside the venue. Judges do not require copies of the score. Preliminary Round Requirements Sunday, June 15th and possibly Monday, June 16th: Performance before a panel of three (3) judges for each division. This round will be closed to the public and no observers are allowed. Each candidate must perform the following pieces and they may be performed in any order: All pieces must be performed from memory. Preliminary Round - Required Piece One solo from the Heitor Villa-Lobos Complete Works for Solo Guitar, Editions Max Eschig. Preliminary Round - Free Choice One free choice piece of 4-7 minutes in length. This may include multiple movements from the same composition. For example, multiple movements from the same Suite. By J.S. Bach, or several etudes from Leo Brouwer's Estudios sencillos. Final Round Requirements Monday, June 16th (estimated 8:15pm start): Performance order for this round will be determined by a random numerical order draw. The four (4) candidates will perform before the same panel of three (3) judges and will be open to the public. All finalists are required to perform a minimum of two (2) works of contrasting styles (by different composers) not to exceed a total of fifteen (15) minutes. They may be performed in any order. No works by Villa-Lobos may be included in the Final Round, but other works from the Preliminary Round may be repeated. All pieces must be memorized. Performers may be stopped at a total of 15 minutes playing time. Tuning or pausing between the selections is not included in the timing. The Final Announcement and Award Ceremony will occur a short time after the conclusion of the IYC Senior Division that same evening. Finalists will take to the stage at that time, and the announcement made once judges have completed their deliberation. Each judge will evaluate the competitors, selecting four (4) competitors from the Preliminary Round to advance to the Final Round. All votes are tallied and the four (4) competitors with the highest number of “YES” votes shall advance to the Final Round. Should a tie result, judges will discuss and re-vote on only the tied competitors. In the Final Round, judges will evaluate each competitor based on their final round performance. They will then vote for each place, beginning with First then moving on to Second, Third, and Forth. No ties are allowed in the final results. In the case of a tie during deliberation, judges will discuss and re-vote on the tied competitors to determine who will advance to the higher place. All decisions by the judges are final. All youth competitors must be current members of the GFA. Choose one of the following:
Competitors under the age of 18 on June 16th, 2025 must also have an adult chaperone. Choose one of the following:
*Additional competition and convention registrations (for siblings, etc.) should be purchased separately. Chaperones attending with more than one competitor only need to purchase one pass for the appropriate competition period. Sponsor
D'Addario & Company, Inc. |
3/11/20232023 IEC Finalists!
7/18/2022GFA 2022 IYC Results!
7/18/2022The Guitar Foundation of America 2022 ICAC results are in!
2/14/2025 » 2/15/2025
NaSS High School - 2025
2/14/2025 » 2/15/2025
NaSS College - 2025
2/14/2025 » 2/15/2025
NaSS Auditor - 2025
