The Philadelphia Classical Guitar Festival opens with two award-winning young artists whose careers are already gaining international attention. Curtis Institute guitarist and 2026 Philadelphia Guitar Competition winner Xingxing Yao joins EuroStrings Artist and international prizewinner and 2025 Philadelphia Guitar Competition winner Jiujiu Wu for an evening celebrating the future of classical guitar.

Xingxing Yao

Xingxing Yao is a classical guitarist from Hangzhou, China and winner of the 2026 Philadelphia Guitar Competition. She began studying guitar at age three and entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2020, where she studies with David Starobin and Jason Vieaux.

Her musical development has brought her to leading educational and performance settings in the United States and abroad. In addition to solo performance, she has explored chamber music and contemporary repertoire, reflecting a broad artistic outlook. Her participation in major training programs and competitions has helped establish her as one of the promising young guitarists of her generation.

For Philadelphia audiences, her appearance carries special significance as the newest winner of the Philadelphia Guitar Competition and an opportunity to hear an emerging artist at the beginning of a professional career.

Jiujiu Wu

Jiujiu Wu is a Chinese classical guitarist whose young career has already taken him across China, Europe, and the United States. He began guitar at age nine and went on to study with teachers including Bing Wu, Bao Xu, You Wang, Guillem Pérez-Quer, David Starobin, Eliot Fisk, and Andrew Zohn.

Wu was named a EuroStrings Artist in 2021 and has earned first prizes at the International Guitar Festival “Alirio Diaz” in Austria, the Boston International Guitar Festival Competition, the Philadelphia Guitar Competition, the University of Louisville Guitar Festival, and the Texas Guitar Competition and Festival. He studied at New England Conservatory with Eliot Fisk and is currently pursuing graduate study at the Schwob School of Music.

His repertoire ranges from Bach, Sor, Tárrega, and Rodrigo to contemporary works and original arrangements, reflecting a young artist with international training and an expanding musical voice.