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The next Parkening International Guitar Competition will be held on May 28-30, 2009, with the Young Guitarists competition held on May 26.

KCET Los Angeles Public Television Schedules September 10 Premiere of Pepperdine University's Parkening International Guitar Competition Documentary

The highly anticipated documentary of Pepperdine University's inaugural Parkening International Guitar Competition will air on KCET-TV PBS Los Angeles Monday, September 10, at 10 p.m. The documentary was shot in high definition and covers the world's preeminent guitar competition from beginning to end as 15 international guitarists competed for the largest prize purse of any classical guitar competition in the world.

The Parkening International Guitar Competition honors classical guitarist Christopher Parkening's lifetime commitment to fostering musical excellence in young artists as demonstrated by his mentor, the great Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia. Parkening currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Music at Pepperdine University.

The documentary was written and directed by Christopher Risucci and narrated by veteran classical music radio host Gene Parrish. The one-hour program includes the competitors performing the Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra onstage at Pepperdine's Smothers Theatre on its Malibu campus. The competitors were judged on musicianship, tone, technique, and stage presence by an internationally acclaimed panel of judges which included guitar virtuoso Eliot Fisk, seven-time Grammy Award-winning recording producer Thomas Frost, cello virtuoso Lynn Harrell, former Sony BMG Masterworks President Gilbert Hetherwick, and Director of Artists and Special Projects for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Miryam Yardumian.

At its conclusion, the winner of the competition received a brilliant golden medallion, The Stotsenberg Prize, from Pepperdine benefactor Dorothy Stotsenberg of Malibu, Ca. The 2006 Parkening Competition was made possible by a generous grant from Howard and Roberta Ahmanson. In addition to the Ahmansons and Mrs. Stotsenberg, Russell Cleveland, CEO/Director of RENN Capital Group of Dallas, Texas, supported the Silver Medalist prize and Dr. Kraig Wangsnes of Augusta, Georgia, provided funding for the Bronze Medalist prize.

The second Parkening International Guitar Competition has been scheduled for May 26-31, 2009.

For more information, visit http://www.pepperdine.edu/arts/parkening/ or http://www.kcet.org/