Congratulations to the 2016 Six String Theory Winners & Finalists!
GRAND PRIZE WINNERS (each instrument)
GUITAR (tie): Roland Balogh (jazz)- Hungary Video #1 Video #2
GUITAR (tie): Carter Low (blues)- Canada Video #1 Video #2
PIANO: Nicolas Hetko- New York, USA Video #1 Video #2
BASS: Isaias Elpes- USA/Brazil Video #1 Video #2
DRUMS: Raphael Pannier- France Video #1 Video #2
GUITAR CATEGORY WINNERS:
Jazz/Fusion Guitar Winner: Roland Balogh- Hungary Video #1 Video #2
Blues Guitar Winner: Carter Low, Canada Video #1 Video #2
Acoustic Guitar Winner: Rhythm Shaw- India Video #1 Video #2
Rock Guitar Winner: Tom Caunt- UK Video #1 Video #2
Classical Guitar Winner: Stephen Lee- Indonesia Video #1 Video #2
Rhythm Guitar Winner: Peter Skrabak- California, USA Video #1 Video #2
JAZZ/FUSION GUITAR WINNER: ROLAND BALOGH– Hungary Video #1 Video #2
1st Finalist: Roman Nochevnyy- Turkmenistan Video #1 Video #2
2nd Finalist: Pablo Romeu- Brazil Video #1 Video #2
3rd Finalist: Ilya Kamaldinov- Russia Video #1 Video #2
4th Finalist: Eduardo Belloni- Brazil Video #1 Video #2
5th Finalist: Jan Jakut- Washington, USA Video #1 Video #2
BLUES GUITAR WINNER: CARTER LOW– Canada Video #1 Video #2
1st Finalist: Hayden Fogle- New York, USA Video #1 Video #2
2nd Finalist: Tommy Benson- Florida, USA Video #1 Video #2
3rd Finalist: Gary Cain- Canada Video #1 Video #2
4th Finalist: Marc Athlan- France Video #1 Video #2
5th Finalist: James Howard- Washington, USA Video #1 Video #2
ACOUSTIC GUITAR WINNER: RHYTHM SHAW– India Video #1 Video #2
1st Finalist: Sandor Nanasi- Hungary Video #1 Video #2
2nd Finalist: Kris Schulz- Canada Video #1 Video #2
3rd Finalist: Antonio Palumbo- Italy Video #1 Video #2
4th Finalist: Jamie Dupuis- Canada Video #1 Video #2
5th Finalist: Dan Bankhurst- Tennessee, USA Video #1 Video #2
ROCK GUITAR WINNER: TOM CAUNT– UK Video #1 Video #2
1st Finalist: Elmo Karjalainen- Finland Video #1 Video #2
2nd Finalist: Craig Pirtle- California, USA Video #1 Video #2
3rd Finalist: Luke Fortini- Italy Video #1 Video #2
4th Finalist: Jorge Almarales- Florida, USA Video #1 Video #2
5th Finalist: Luciano Silva- Brazil Video #1 Video #2
CLASSICAL GUITAR WINNER: STEPHEN LEE– Indonesia Video #1 Video #2
1st Finalist: Ricardo Giuffrida- Brazil Video #1 Video #2
2nd Finalist: Dominic Flynn- California, USA Video #1 Video #2
3rd Finalist: Alex Park- California, USA Video #1 Video #2
4th Finalist: Giorgi Kveliashvili- Georgia (country) Video #1 Video #2
5th Finalist: Jasmin Lacasse Roy- Canada Video #1 Video #2
RHYTHM GUITAR WINNER: PETER SKRABAK– California, USA Video #1 Video #2
1st Finalist: Viktor Geczy- Hungary Video #1 Video #2
2nd Finalist: Brad Bailey- North Carolina, USA Video #1 Video #2
3rd Finalist: Yu Ooka- California, USA Video #1 Video #2
4th Finalist: Orion Meshorer – Israel Video #1 Video #2
5th Finalist: Jesse Sullivan- Washington, USA Video #1 Video #2
PIANO GRAND PRIZE WINNER: NICOLAS HETKO– New York, USA Video #1 Video #2
1st Finalist: Michael Ragonese- California, USA Video #1 Video #2
2nd Finalist: Yakub Saputra- California, USA Video #1 Video #2
3rd Finalist: Tim Dvorkin- Ohio, USA Video #1 Video #2
4th Finalist: Katarina Kochetova- Serbia Video #1 Video #2
5th Finalist: Brian Clay- Tennessee, USA Video #1 Video #2
BASS GRAND PRIZE WINNER: ISAIAS ELPES– USA/Brazil Video #1 Video #2
1st Finalist: Bryan Ladd- New York, USA Video #1 Video #2
2nd Finalist: Brandon Rose- Michigan, USA Video #1 Video #2
3rd Finalist: Joe Duran- California, USA Video #1 Video #2
4th Finalist: Jacob Smith- Texas, USA Video #1 Video #2
5th Finalist: Naoki Isobe- Japan Video #1 Video #2
DRUM GRAND PRIZE WINNER: RAPHAEL PANNIER– France Video #1 Video #2
1st Finalist: Yesaya Soemantri – Indonesia Video #1 Video #2
2nd Finalist: Shedly Abraham- New York, USA Video #1 Video #2
3rd Finalist: Jeroen Truyen- Germany Video #1 Video #2
4th Finalist: David Hodek- Slovakia Video #1 Video #2
5th Finalist: Jacori Robinson- Texas, USA Video #1 Video #2
NOTE TO ALL APPLICANTS FROM LEE RITENOUR:
First off, I would like to thank all the musicians that applied to the 2016 Six String Theory Competition. I was thrilled that 170 countries visited our website and 45 countries from around the world signed up for the competition. I personally looked at hundreds of videos the last few months and I can honestly say I’m humbled by the sheer amount of talent from around the world that joined the competition.
I’ve said this before, that in general, I don’t like competitions. Music is not about competition… It’s about giving, growing and bringing joy to other people’s lives through music. I believe with our Six String Theory Competition, we try to reach beyond the competition part to encourage musicians to share their music and have a goal to improve. We’ve had several people who have signed up previously for Six String and either not placed at all or did not reach very high in the rankings. Then we’ve had those same people apply in later years, and in some cases, place very high or even win the grand prize.
This year’s winners were an amazing diverse group of musicians and sometimes the first place, second and third were separated by a few votes. All of the judges wrote back to us that this year was very challenging because of the amazing amount of talent and diversity.
I encourage all the musicians that joined our competition to keep going forward…The gift of receiving and giving music is truly one of the most beautiful things on Earth and all of you are certainly doing just that!
-Lee Ritenour
NOTE TO ALL SST JUDGES FROM LEE RITENOUR:
Hi everyone! We have wrapped up the 2016 Six String Theory Competition and I want to thank everyone for taking their valuable time to vote and help out this year… I know everyone is super busy and we really appreciate the time and effort. Everyone did a fantastic job and many of you made very astute and helpful comments regarding your selections. SST was more successful than ever reaching musicians around the world. 170 countries visited the SST site and musicians from 45 countries signed up. We had winners from the US, France, England, Canada, India, Indonesia, Brazil and Hungary…definitely global!
As all of us know, the music business has radically changed, but one thing remains constant, people still love music and the musicians who make it. You are all proof of that and these young winners are certainly proof that we’re in good hands with the next generation of musicians. Thanks so much for your support! Much love, Lee
