Marko Topchii of Ukraine reacts after he won the first prize in the second Budapest International Guitar Competition at the Liszt Ferenc Music Academy in Budapest, Hungary, on Nov. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Attila Volgyi)
BUDAPEST, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Marko Topchii from Ukraine won the first prize in the second Budapest International Guitar Competition on Saturday, before Damiano Pisanello from Switzerland and Gian Marco Ciampa from Italy.
The second Budapest International Guitar Competition was held between November 6 and 11. The competition was open to guitarists of all nationalities who were born on or after January 1, 1985.
Topchii's first prize not only included 5,000 euros (5,800 U.S. dollars), but also a Sakurai special guitar worth 5,000 euros, and he was offered engagements for concerts to 16 international music festivals and concerts.
He will also be invited as a jury member to the third Budapest International Guitar Competition in 2020.
Hungary's Lotti Szalai became the best female competitor, and won the audience's prize. She was awarded by a concert invitation to Rotenburg 2018 in Germany and received 1,000 euros. (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollars)
