2025 PUJOL CONTEST | Japan Crowned Winner of the Fourth Edition of the Pujol Competition in La Granadella
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Ayaka Mukaiyama, Japanese guitarist, proclaimed as the grand winner of the competition, also receiving the special Pujol Prize and the Audience Award
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The representatives of the Republic of Korea and Cuba were the other two finalists, taking second and third place respectively
La Granadella | July 14, 2025 | 12:00 pm
Ayaka Mukaiyama, winner of the 2025 Pujol Competition, comes from an international family and grew up in Japan and Kazakhstan. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Vienna under the guidance of Maestro Jorgos Panetsos. In addition to the first prize, Ayaka was also awarded the Audience Prize and the Special Prize for the Best Interpretation of the Works of Emili Pujol. Second prize went to the representative from the Republic of Korea, Jehee Lee. Third place, for the second consecutive year, was awarded to Cuban guitarist Legna Tabares.
The jury’s decision—composed of Professor Sylvie Dagnac from the Guitarles Académie, the renowned composer and maestro Jorge Cardoso, and Mario Peña y Lillo, professor at the Orfeó Lleidatà—was unanimous and perfectly aligned with the audience’s opinion.
The second part of the event featured a performance by the young Guitar Ensemble of the Orfeó Lleidatà, conducted by Maestro Peña y Lillo. They delighted the audience with a wide-ranging repertoire from the Baroque period to the present day, including a standout performance by the Dagnac-Cardoso duo.
The surprise of the afternoon was the screening of an audiovisual documentary that transported the audience back in time with nostalgia to the day in 1967 when Maestro Emili Pujol was honored as a Distinguished Son of La Granadella. The footage was recovered by the Museu de Lleida from Maestro Pujol’s archival legacy, preserved by the Institut d’Estudis Ilerdencs.
