Alirio Díaz

A guitar competition named Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Alirio Díaz has been held in his honor in Caracas and other cities in Venezuela (the April 2006 contest was held in Carora). Many compositions have been dedicated to Díaz including Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo's Invocación y Danza. Many talented and gifted students were invited and participated in his master classes in Alessandra Italy including his favorite student guitarist and composer Cris Alcamo.

In Carora (Venezuela) since 1974 the Alirio Díaz International Guitar Competition pays tribute to the art of this Venezuelan virtuoso and celebrates his invaluable contribution to guitar learning on national and international levels.

In 1961, Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo's piece Invocación y Danza, dedicated to Alirio Díaz, won the First Prize at the Coupe International de Guitare awarded by the Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF). In turn, Díaz obliged and the next year performed this very difficult solo piece. It has also been recorded by Díaz. This was one of many compositions dedicated to Alirio Díaz.

In 1950, the Venezuelan government awarded him a scholarship to continue his guitar studies in Madrid under Regino Sainz de la Maza. That same year he performed his first guitar concert in Europe. In 1951 he went to Accademia Musicale Chigiana of Siena (Italy), to study with Andrés Segovia. There he impressed Segovia greatly with his flawless technique and extensive repertoire. Three years later, he progressed to become the assistant and substitute to Segovia, and started performing in some of the most prestigious concert halls of Europe.

The eighth of eleven children, Díaz was born in Caserio La Candelaria, a small village near Carora in western Venezuela. From childhood he showed a great interest in music. His uncle was his first guitar teacher. At age 16 he ran away from home to Carora, where he sought better schooling. He later went to Trujillo in the Venezuelan Andes and studied saxophone and clarinet under Laudelino Mejías while working as a typesetter in a newspaper. He also studied English before going to Caracas in 1945 to study the guitar at the Escuela Superior de Musica José Ángel Lamas under Raul Borges.

Alirio Díaz (12 November 1923 – 5 July 2016) was a Venezuelan classical guitarist and composer, considered one of the most prominent composer-guitarists of South America and an eminent musician. He studied with Andrés Segovia, and gave concerts all over the world.