GUITARIST ON
THE ROOF
Tel Aviv International Classical Guitar
Festival & Competition
6TH - 8TH OF DECEMBER 2026
“Guitarist on the Roof” is an international classical guitar festival, based in Tel Aviv.
Our aim is to promote and develop the classical guitar in Israel, to encourage the young generation of guitarists, and to shine a spotlight on Israel’s various classical guitarists and composers
This year, the festival will take place in ANU - Museum of the Jewish People (located on the campus of Tel Aviv University) from December 6th to 8th, 2026, and will consist of several events:
-
A classical guitar competition
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Masterclasses with artists from Israel and from abroad
-
Evening concerts
Our events are open to participants from Israel and from abroad. Please view each category for additional details.
THANK YOU
What an incredible three days! Three days full of music, guitar, learning and inspiration. We hope all of you get lots of well-deserved rest. Before saying goodbye, we want to say an enormous thank you!
Thank you to Nadav Foundation & ANU Museum, who welcomed us and made us feel at home throughout the entire festival. Thank you to Roman Kogan and Anna Leykin, as well as Sigalit and Ateret, and the entire ANU staff, for being by our side and being so incredibly helpful. Thank you to the wonderful Dalit & Marcelo Raij from the Tenor music store, for their invaluable presence and support. And of course thank you to all of our sponsors who wished to remain anonymous, your support is invaluable.
We also want to thank our amazing maestri, who took upon themselves the roles of performers, teachers and jury members: our amazing guest from Russia Rovshan Mamedkuliev, as well as our brilliant professors Ruben Seroussi and Yoram Zerbib. You're all incredible!
A big thank you to Pavel Konovalov, Ilya Liebkind, Leonid Fridman, Pavel Mostinsky and Roy Zaig, for being the amazing technical team that they are, and taking care of the lights, sound, photography, recording and everything in between and beyond that.
Thank you to all of wonderful competition participants, as well as their teachers and parents. Just for the countless hours of hard work that you're putting in, you already deserve a prize. Thank you to the wonderful audience that came to our concerts! And thank you to everyone we might've missed (sorry, we're all tired at this point). This was Guitarist on the Roof's very first year, and we're hoping to see you all again next year. Happy holidays!
2025 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE FOR DECEMBER 15TH
SCHEDULE FOR DECEMBER 16TH
SCHEDULE FOR DECEMBER 17TH
PROGRAMS OF THE COMPETITORS IN CATEGORIES A & C
PROGRAMS OF THE COMPETITORS IN CATEGORY B
Click the underlined parts to view the files.
NEWS & UPDATES
12.09.2026 - We're excited to announce that the festival is returning for a second year! The sign-up is already open, and this year's concerts will be announced later, so stay tuned ;)
INVITED ARTISTS
Gian Marco Ciampa (Italy)
Gian Marco Ciampa, born in 1990, graduated with full marks, honors and Honorable Mention in guitar at the "Santa Cecilia" Conservatory in Rome, under the guidance of Maestro Arturo Tallini and Bruno Battisti D'Amario. From a very young age he carries out an intense concert activity that has led him to perform and hold Masterclasses in four continents. He is also the winner of more than 40 international awards including the "Melbourne International GuitarCompetition", "Tokyo International Guitar Competition" and the "European Guitar Competition" which awards him with the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic.
In May 2016, thanks to the great use of social networks and new technologies that he uses in his videos, he was invited to hold a TEDxTalk for the prestigious TEDxLUISS event, precisely to deal with the topic about the union between classical music and the younger generations: "Who says classical music is only
for old people?" is the title of his speech which is greeted by an emotional
standing ovation from the audience.
Since 2016 he has been Professor of Conservatory and has held Masterclasses in important Italian and foreign Conservatories. Active in Chamber Music at the moment he collaborates in Duo with the young
cellist Erica Piccotti and with the flutist Bianca Fiorito. In October 2020 Gian Marco won the audition for the position of guitarist at the “Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino” in Florence.
Doron Salomon (Israel)
Born in Israel, where he also began his musical studies, Doron Salomon studied piano, French horn, and classical guitar in his youth. As a guitarist, he performed as a soloist with prominent Israeli orchestras, including the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Sinfonietta, and others. He graduated with honors and was a two-time recipient of the Sir Adrian Boult Conducting Prize, as well as the Theodore Stier Prize. He participated in guitar masterclasses with Alirio Díaz, Abel Carlevaro, and Leo Brouwer.
Maestro Salomon has received numerous honors, including the Landau Performing Arts Award, the ACUM Award for Outstanding Performance of an Israeli Composition, the Ministry of Culture Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Special Award from the Italian Government for his international contribution to classical guitar.
He frequently collaborates with diverse artists across genres, including Brazilian guitar virtuoso and composer Daniel Murray, Bulgarian kaval virtuoso Theodosii Spassov, the Choro Ensemble, Yair Dalal, klezmer icons Giora Feidman and David Krakauer, Brazilian composer and guitarist Chico Pinheiro, Cuban pianist and composer Ramón Valle, and Brazilian singer Danilo Caymmi.
Yoram Zerbib (Israel)
His main teachers were Professor Yossi Yerushalmi and the Spanish maestro Alberto Ponce, with whom he completed his studies at the École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot".
He was invited to perform recitals and give master classes in Israel and abroad - France, Germany, England, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, South America, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, Guatemala, Mexico, and China.
Composers who dedicated pieces to him include Roland Dyens, Lior Yekutiel, Boris Pigovat, Abraham Kefeli, and Dalit Raij.
Since 2002, he's been teaching at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and from 2018 to 2024, he served as the head of the String Instruments Department.
Yoram Zarbib dedicates a great deal of time to encouraging young guitarists in Israel by giving masterclasses, lectures, and organizing an annual summer workshop in Nordia.
