Guitar virtuoso Giulia Ballarè in concert at the 2026 Jerry Snyder GuitarFest
with a Prelude performance by the duo of Andrew Lee and Brandon Lee
Directions
Italian-born Giulia Ballarè is regularly invited to play in prestigious venues in Europe, Russia, the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil. She is a professor at Conservatoire de Musique de Genève in Switzerland and Conservatorio "A. Vivaldi" in Alessandria, Italy.
In 2013 she released her first album "Lyrically Spain" under the dotGuitar label and made her second album "Untuned Guitar" under the JSM Guitar Records label. In 2019 she founded the Gauthey Ballarè Duo with French guitarist Pauline Gauthey. In 2023 the duo released its album "Lo Que Vendrá" with JSM Guitar Records.
Since 2013 Ballarè has won more than 30 prizes in international competitions, including first prize in the Andrès Segovia, Ciudad de Coria, Forum Gitarre Wien, and Mottola competitions. She was a top prizewinner in many other competitions throughout Europe.
Ballarè has performed in masterclasses with some of the most well-known figures in the classical guitar world including Oscar Ghiglia, David Russell, Pavel Steidl, Paolo Pegoraro, Marcin Dylla, Judicaël Perroy, Aniello Desiderio, and Adriano Del Sal. She started playing guitar at age nine and graduated in 2012 from the conservatory in Novara, Italy, under Guido Fichtner.
Ballarè is a Savarez Artist.
Prelude performance by the duo of Andrew Lee and Brandon Lee
The duo of Andrew Lee and Brandon Lee has performed in recital and in masterclass for René Izquierdo and the Kupiński Duo and is coached by Jon Mendle at the Pre-College Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As soloists, Andrew was the second-place winner at the 2025 Texas Guitar Competition and the 2023 Chicago Guitar Festival Competition. Brandon was the third-prize winner at both those competitions. Andrew and Brandon were soloists in the 2024 Junior Bach Festival and have performed in masterclass for the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Kevin Loh, Hao Yang, and many other prominent teachers. Both Brandon and Andrew study privately with Mendle at the Pre-College. Outside the guitar, they are fans of Premier League soccer, with Andrew cheering for Arsenal while Brandon roots for Chelsea.
Program:
G. Rossini, arr. M. Giuliani: Overture to Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Andrew Lee (left) and Brandon Lee
