Petrit Çeku Explained

Petrit Çeku
Birth Date:	2 June 1985
Birth Place:	Prizren, Kosovo
Genre:	Classical
Instrument:	Guitar
Occupation:	Musician

Petrit Çeku (born 2 June 1985) is an Albanian classical guitarist.^{[1] [2]}

Biography

Born in Prizren, Kosovo, Çeku was inspired to play guitar by his father from the age of six.^[3] He attended the Lorenc Antoni music school from age 9 to 17, where he took lessons in classical guitar from Luan Sapunxhiu.

In 2002, Çeku was invited by Xhevdet Sahatxhija to study in Zagreb, Croatia, at the Pavao Markovac school of music. In 2008, Çeku graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Music in the class of Darko Petrinjak. From 2009–13 he went on to study with Manuel Barrueco at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, USA.^{[4] [5]}

Çeku has performed many recitals throughout Europe and the Americas and was a soloist with orchestras such as Baltimore Symphony, Czech Chamber Philharmonic, State Hermitage Orchestra of St. Petersburg and Zagreb Philharmonic. He also appears regularly with the famed Zagreb Soloists and is a founding member of Guitar Trio Elogio.^{[6] [7]} He regularly performs at music festivals such as Next Generation Festival,^[8] Samobor Festival,^[9] Panama Guitar Festival,^[10] Moscow Guitar Virtuosi ^[11] and Prishtina’s Remusica Festival.^[12] He also teaches regularly at the Polish Guitar Academy^[13] and the Young Masters Samobor Festival. From time to time, the musician returns to his hometown with concerts and various musical performances.^[14]

Petrit Çeku plays on a guitar made by Ross Gutmeier.^[15]

Awards

Prizes

• 2012 Parkening International Guitar Competition, Malibu, California^{[16] [17] [18]}
• 2011 Allentown Symphony Schadt String Competition, Allentown, Pennsylvania^[19]
• 2011 Maurizio Biasini International Guitar Competition, Bologna, Italy^[20]
• 2007 Michele Pittaluga International Classical Guitar Competition, Alessandria, Italy^{[21] [22]}
• 2005 Ferdo Livadic Competition, Samobor, Croatia, Best Concert Performance^[23]
• 2004 Andres Segovia International Competition for Young Guitarists, Velbert Germany^[24]
• 2004 Emilio Pujol Competition, Sassari, Italy^[25]
• 2003 All Croatia Competition, Dubrovnik, Croatia^[26]
• 2003 Anna Amalia Guitar Competition, Weimar, Germany^[27]

Second Prizes

• 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, Buffalo, New York^[28]
• 2006 Parkening International Guitar Competition, Malibu, California^[29]
• 2006 Printemps de la Guitare, Charleroi, Belgium^{[30] [31]}

Other Awards

• 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, Buffalo, New York, Audience Favorite and Musicians Favorite Honors^[32]
• 2008 Zagreb Philharmonic, Best Young Musician of the Year, Zagreb, Croatia^[33]
• 2005 Ivo Vuljevic Best Young Musician of the Year Award

Discography

Çeku's first CD was released in 2008 at the Naxos label.^{[34] [35] [36]} His recordings of Bach's complete cello suites, arranged by Valter Dešpalj, were released in 2016 under the Spanish label Eudora^[37]

Notes and References

1. http://articles.mcall.com/2011-03-06/news/mc-schadt-string-20110306_1_william-kanengiser-sergio-assad-allentown-residents-and-businessmen
2. http://biasiniguitar.altervista.org/PDF/petritcekubio.pdf Curriculum Petrit Çeku
3. http://www.kosovodiaspora.org/petrit-ceku-from-prizren-to-baltimore-and-back-2/ KosovoDiaspora.org
4. Peabody Institute, Barrueco Studio 2012-2013 Web site: 2012-2013 Barrueco Studio . 2014-08-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140826161142/http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/faculty/barrueco/studio/2012-2013.html . 26 August 2014 . dmy-all .
5. http://kosovotwopointzero.com/en/article/1816/i-love-pop-for-what-it-has-done-to-society-petrit-ceku Kosovo 2.0
6. https://www.facebook.com/GuitarTrioELOGIO Guitar Trio Elogio Facebook
7. Young Masters International Musicians' Summer Class 2015 http://youngmasters.com.hr/lecturers/petrit-ceku-guitar/
8. http://www.festivalbadragaz.ch/artist/68/Petrit+Çeku+%281985%29%2C+Guitar%2C+Kosovo Festival Next Generation Bad Ragaz:Petrit Çeku
9. http://www.samobor-festival.com/ferdo-livadic/30/96/EN Archive 9th Ferdo Livadić 2012
10. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Panama-Guitar-Festival/389552641143081 Facebook Panama Guitar Festival
11. https://www.facebook.com/guitar.virtuosos/photos/gm.749016975116799/10152340964119276/ Facebook Guitar Virtuosos Moscow International Festival
12. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.763678276986413.1073741844.193602390660674&type=3 Facebook Remusica 2014 Petrit Çeku kitarë
13. http://zamek.poznan.pl/news,en,165,2308.html Polish Guitar Academy A guitar night - Petrit Çeku
14. Young Masters International Young Musicians' Summer Class Petrit Çeku guitar http://youngmasters.com.hr/?page_id=357
15. http://www.gutmeierguitars.com/ Ross Gutmeier
16. http://arts.pepperdine.edu/parkening/about/2012/competition/competitors/ceku.htm Parkening International Guitar Competition 2012 Petrit Çeku
17. http://www.mfa-ks.net/?page=2,115,1285 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republika E Kosovës
18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCCSDAtDMyo Youtube Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez - Petrit Çeku
19. Kosovan Guitarist Wins Allentown String Competition "The Morning Call" March 6, 2011 http://articles.mcall.com/2011-03-06/news/mc-schadt-string-20110306_1_william-kanengiser-sergio-assad-allentown-residents-and-businessmen
20. Croatia.org Srdjan Bulat and Petrit Çeku take two tops spots at Maurizio Basini Oct 17, 2011 http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/10190/1/Srdjan-Bulat-and-Petrit-Ceku-take-two-top-spots-at-the-Maurizio-Biasini-International-Guitar-Competition.html
21. Web site: Pittaluga.org winners . 8 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141113153650/http://www.pittaluga.org/guitar-winners.asp . 13 November 2014 . dead .
22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7EJbEws9yM Youtube Petrit Çeku winner 2007 Pittaluga Alessandria Competition
23. http://www.samobor-festival.com/ferdo-livadic/30/152/EN Samobor-Festival.com Archive 2013 Former Award Winners
24. http://www.gitarrevelbert.de/gitarrenwettbewerb/archiv/prizewinners_2004.php Gitarrevelbert.de Results 2004
25. http://ricerca.gelocal.it/lanuovasardegna/archivio/lanuovasardegna/2004/05/11/ST5PO_ST502.html Vince Petrit Çeku... "La Nuova Sardegna" May 11, 2004
26. http://www.kosovodiaspora.org/petrit-ceku-in-the-czech-open-guitar-festival/ KosovoDiaspora.org
27. http://www.kosovodiaspora.org/petrit-ceku-in-the-czech-open-guitar-festival/ KosovoDiaspora.org
28. http://www.joannfalletta.com/news.html JoannFalletta.com 2012 Winners
29. http://arts.pepperdine.edu/parkening/history/2006/competition/default.htm Parkening International Guitar Competition History 2006
30. http://www.floridaguitarfoundation.org/petrit-ceku/ FloridaGuitarFoundation.org
31. http://www.naxos.com/person/Petrit_Ceku/70948.htm Naxos.com Petrit Çeku
32. http://www.joannfalletta.com/news.html JoannFalletta.com 2012 Winners
33. http://www.floridaguitarfoundation.org/petrit-ceku/ FloridaGuitarFoundation.org
34. http://www.naxos.com/person/Petrit_Ceku/70948.htm Petrit Çeku, Naxos Records
35. http://www.naxos.com/feature/Guitar_Collection.asp Naxos Guitar Collection Petrit Çeku
36. http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572033 Guitar Recital, Petrit Çeku album
37. http://eudorarecords.com EudoraRecords.com