Petrit Çeku

Petrit Çeku (Croatian: Petrit Čeku) (born 1985 in Prizren, Kosovo) is an Croatian/Albanian classical guitarist from Kosovo.^[1] He plays on a Ross Gutmeier guitar.^[2][3]

Biography

Petrit Çeku was born in 1985 in Prizren, Republic of Kosovo where, at primary music school, he received instructions from Luan Sapunxhiu. In 2002 he moved to Zagreb, where he continued his music education under the instruction of Xhevdet Sahatxhija. Later he entered Darko Petrinjak's class at the Music Academy in Zagreb and graduated from the program in 2008. His first solo album was released that year under the Naxos Records label.^[4]

He has taken part in master-classes led by Manuel Barrueco, Leo Brouwer, Zoran Dukić, Carlo Marchione, Ehat Musa, Scott Tennant and Ana Vidović.^[5]

He currently studies with Manuel Barrueco at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, USA.

He also performs regularly with symphony orchestras as well as in chamber music setting with various musicians.^[6]

Awards

Petrit has won first prize in the All-Croatian Competition in Dubrovnik in 2003 and in the international Anna Amalia Guitar Competition in Weimar.^[7] He has won the 2003 Anna Amalia Competition for Young Guitarists (Germany). The next year he won the Emilio Pujol Guitar Competition (Italy) and the Andrés Segovia Competition (Velbert, Germany).^[8]

He was awarded the Silver Medal in the Parkening International Guitar Competition in Malibu, California and second prize in the Belgian Printemps de la guitare in Charleroi in 2006.^[9]

In 2007 he placed first in the Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition (Italy).^[10]

On March 6, 2011, he won the 15th annual Edwin H. and Lehigh W. Schadt String Competition following a public performance at Symphony Hall in Allentown.

On June 2, 2012, he won the Gold Medal in the Parkening International Guitar Competition in Malibu, California.^[11]

Discography

• 2008 Guitar Recital^[12]

References