Suvan Agarwal, Guitar Virtuoso in Concert

Guitar Virtuoso Suvan Agarwal in concert

 Prelude performer to be announced

DIRECTIONS: Shared Arts Center 

Internationally recognized American guitarist Suvan Agarwal won the first prizes at the Dutch Guitar Foundation International Guitar Competition, the Josefina P. Tuason International Guitar Competition, and the Elias Barreiro International Young Artists Competition. He received second prize, and the audience prize, at the Tokyo International Guitar Competition and a third prize at the Koblenz International Guitar Competition, the largest guitar competitions in Asia and Europe respectively. He has performed in the U.S., Scotland, Switzerland, and Japan at venues including the University of St. Andrews, Kings Place in London, and Hakuju Hall in Tokyo.

Agarwal started playing guitar at the age of five under Frank Longay, creator of the Suzuki guitar method. During high school Agarwal studied guitar under Alexandra Viloteau (née Iranfar). He is a graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory, where he studied guitar under Stephen Aron and obtained two bachelor's degrees in guitar performance and physics. Agarwal is a recent graduate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he studied under professors Matthew McAllister and Allan Neave. He was a recipient of the prestigious ABRSM post-graduate fellowship. Under a full scholarship, Agarwal is currently pursuing a master’s degree at The Juilliard School under the guidance of Grammy winning guitarist Sharon Isbin. He has participated in masterclasses with David Russell and Leo Brouwer, among many others, and has received instruction from Gentaro Takada. He studied at the Aspen Music Festival and School in 2024 and 2025.

In addition to music, Agarwal's interests include physics and computer science. In 2022, he won a National Science Foundation scholarship to conduct geophysics research at the University of Hawaii, and in 2023 received a scholarship from the Friends of the University of Tokyo Foundation to pursue geophysics research at the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute. He studied at Waseda University in Japan in 2022 and was the first Oberlin College student to receive the Bridging Scholarship from the United States-Japan Bridging Foundation. Born in Japan, Agarwal grew up in Sunnyvale, Calif. His mother is Japanese-American and his father is Indian. He speaks English and Japanese.

Prelude performer to be announced