Oberlin Guitarists Winning Competitions

This summer has been a terrific one for Oberlin students and alumni on the guitar competition trail. Rising senior, Solis Dornan, May graduate, Aleksandr Lapshin, and recent alum, Suvan Agarwal, have all been prizewinners this season.

Let’s begin with Solis. After winning the Tuesday Musical Club Guitar Award recently, he competed in May in the Chicago Guitar Festival Competition. He landed THIRD PRIZE in the Collegiate Division.

Solis Dornan on stage in Chicago with judges and other prizewinners (he is 5th from right)

Aleksandr Lapshin, who graduated in May and will begin work on his Master of Music in Milwaukee with René Izquierdo this Fall, won a prize also.

He entered the Houston Classical Guitar Competition, an event designed to be entirely online. So Aleksandr uploaded his entry video from his home in Omsk, Siberia. He won SECOND PRIZE in the College Division.

Aleksandr Lapshin (photo taken in Oberlin)

Finally, Suvan Agarwal, who graduated from Oberlin in May of 2024, and who since then spent a year in Scotland studying with Alan Neave and Matthew McAllister at the Royal Conservatory and is now enrolled at Juilliard School of Music, has been hot on the competition trail. In the past two years, he has won prizes in six domestic competitions as well as in six competitions overseas. These included major events in Groningen, Sarajevo, Koblenz, Madrid, Tokyo and the Rhine. This summer, he added to that list with success at the Taiwan International Guitar Competition.

As it turned out, he did not win a prize per se, but instead won the New Generation Award, for which he was invited back to the Taiwan event in 2027 to perform as a GUEST ARTIST, splitting a concert with French sensation Virgile Barthe, and receiving all expenses and a $2K fee. Not shabby!!

I am immensely proud of my students and alumni. Bravo to you all for your hard, hard work and thoughtful, inspired music-making! May you continue to see see more successes in the future!