ADAM CICCHILLITTI

AN ACTIVE PERFORMER, TEACHER, ARRANGER & COMPOSER

Adam is a virtuoso at the top of his game.

- Classical Guitar Magazine

There were several media accolades over the past years for Montreal-born guitarist Adam Cicchillitti. The renowned American magazine Classical Guitar called him “a virtuoso at the top of his game” and CBC Music described him as an “ardent ambassador for classical guitar,” including him on their list of the top 30 musicians in Canada under 30 years old. Adam has commissioned over two dozen new works since 2019 and recorded five albums with the Analekta, Atma, and Leaf Music record labels. His album Focus, dedicated to new Canadian music for two guitars, was awarded “Classical Recording of the Year” at the East Coast Music Awards in 2021. The follow-up album Intimate Impressions was nominated in the same category in 2022.

Adam and his duo partner Steve Cowan have won the second and third prizes at the Guitar Foundation of America International Ensemble Competition in 2023 and 2021 respectively, without a doubt the world’s most prestigious guitar ensemble competition. Moreover, he is only the second guitarist to win the grand prize of the multi-instrument Canimex concerto competition in Canada and has been a finalist and multiple prize-winner in over a dozen national and international competitions.

An ardent ambassador of the classical guitar.

- CBC Music

Adam has set a benchmark in classical guitar with his award-winning recordings, competition performances, arrangements, and teaching. He regularly collaborates with many of Canada's most esteemed soloists and orchestras, including guitarist Steve Cowan, flutist Lara Deutsch, baritone Philippe Sly, bandoneonist Denis Plante, the Orchestre classique de Montréal and Forestare. He has toured Canada and the United States several times and has been represented by prestigious touring agencies such as Prairie Debut, Debut Atlantic, and Jeunesses Musicales. In 2022, he commissioned six new guitar concertos with the Thirteen Strings orchestra of Ottawa, again with Cowan. The works will be recorded as world premieres in 2024.

Adam is lecturer of guitar at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada. He holds a doctorate in guitar performance from McGill University and is the founder of the guitar school at Ottawa Suzuki Strings. Adam is sponsored by Augustine Strings and plays a guitar by the Canadian/Dutch luthier Sergei de Jonge.