Photo: Sean Shibe.
Photo by: Matthew Fowler
Courtesy: The Musicians' Company

The 12th Ivor Mairants Guitar Award on 26 November 2009 at the Coopers Hall in the City of London. Although the number of entrants was smaller than usual - the standard was extremely high. First prize went to Sean Shibe from Edinburgh. Sean, who is 17 years old, is a student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Second prize went to Thomas Ellis a student at the Royal College of Music in London. Third prize went to Jona Kesteleyn from Brussels in Belgium.

Ivor Mairants (1908 - 1998) was one of Britain's foremost guitarists from the 1930s until the 1980s, primarily in the world of jazz and dance band music. His excellent musicianship, so vividly displayed through his very many recordings, compositions, arrangements, methods and books, was recognised all over the world. Ivor Mairants became a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians late in his life, however it was to be through the Company that he saw the way to fulfil a life-long ambition. This was to make young classical guitarists aware of the music, harmonies and rhythms of jazz - an area of music that he felt was often neglected by them during their formative years. . In 1998, together with his late wife Lily, Ivor Mairants gave a legacy to the Musicians Livery Company to help fund an annual competition for young classical guitarists. The set pieces would be a selection of important contemporary classical works for guitar with a jazz influence. In 1998 the 1st Ivor Mairants Guitar Award took place in the City of London. Since that time this Worshipful Company of Musicians event has become recognised as on of the worlds' most important international competitions for young classical guitarists.

Each year contestants come from all over the world to take part in this unique competition, and several past winners now enjoy highly successful careers as concert and recording artists. The 13th Ivor Mairants Guitar Award will take place in November 2010 in the City of London.

Previous Ivor Mairants Guitar Award Winners

1 - 1998 Amanda Cook (UK)
2 - 1999 Hayley Savage (UK)
3 - 2000 Xuefei Yang (China)
4 - 2001 Milos Karadaglic (Montenegro)
5 - 2002 Jorgen Skogmo (Norway)
6 - 2003 Carl Herring (UK)
7 - 2004 Luis Leite (Brazil)
8 - 2005 Dimitrios Dekavallas (Greece)
9 - 2006 Nicolas Papin (France)
10 - 2007 Fabricio Mattos (Brazil)
11 - 2008 Sanja Plohl (Slovenia)

Music industry sponsors for the 2009 Ivor Mairants Guitar Award were the D'Addario Foundation for the Performing Arts , Mel Bay Publishing Inc, Manuel Rodriguez Guitars, Classical Guitar Magaine, Onboard Research, Chanterelle Verlag and Edicones Rodrigo.

The Musicians Company

The Worshipful Company of Musicians is one of the ancient livery companies (guilds) of the City of London. The Company is able to trace its roots back to 1380 and was given its first charter in the year 1500. The Musicians' Company encourages, supports and promotes musical performance to the highest professional standards. It is the only city livery company clearly identified with the pursuit and recognition of excellence in the performing arts, and is closely associated with trades and crafts related to music-making as well as the education and promotion of young musicians.

In common with other City of London livery companies, the Worshipful Company of Musicians is managed by an executive board known as the Court; the Court is chaired by an annually elected Master and the company is administered by the Clerk.