Pepperdine Hosts Third Triennial Parkening International Guitar Competition The triennial Parkening International Guitar Competition, which took place May 29 to June 2 at Pepperdine’s Smothers Theatre, once again captured the attention of the classical music world. Now in its third installment, this year’s competition, generously supported by Roberta and Howard Ahmanson and Juanita and Manny Del Arroz, attracted 15 standout competitors representing 10 countries to vie for the world’s largest prize purse among guitar competitions. Winners of the main event included Petrit Ceku of Croatia, who took the Gold Medal with his performance of Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez during the final round.
He received the $30,000 Jack Marshall Prize in addition to his medal. Rafael Aguirre of Spain received the Silver Medal, and the Bronze Medal was awarded to Florian Larousse of France. The three finalists were selected from a pool of 15 highly accomplished contestants. Judging the competition were Dave Grusin, film composer and jazz artist; Costa Pilavachi, senior vice president of Universal Music Group and one of the judges at the 2009 Parkening Competition; David Russell, guitar virtuoso; Julie Smith, classical project manager for the Recording Academy (presenter of the Grammy Awards); and Jim Svejda,
Classical KUSC radio host and producer. In addition to the Parkening International Guitar Competition, Pepperdine presented the Parkening Young Guitarist Competition for guitarists ages 17 and younger on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 29 and 30. First Place went to Alec Holcomb, 17, USA; Second Place to Noah Kim, 16, USA; Third Place to Jennifer Kim, 13, USA. Fourth- and fifth-place finishes went respectively to Sean Keegan, 15, USA, and Ashwin Krishna, 14, USA. Learn more: arts.pepperdine.edu/parkening
School of Public Policy Professor Gordon Lloyd Pays Tribute to Milton Friedman On April 4, Gordon Lloyd, professor of public policy at the School of Public Policy, with support from the Koch Charitable Foundation, presented “Three Cheers for Milton Friedman: Still Going Strong After All These Years.” Lloyd concentrated on the enduring contribution of Friedman, the winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Economics, to economic policy on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth and the 50th anniversary of the publication of Capitalism and Freedom. “What I find fascinating about Friedman’s extensive work is just how straightforward
it is,” said Lloyd. “He has what I call a ‘quantitative theory of freedom.’ That sounds complicated, but the test can be collapsed into a one-liner: the more capitalism, the more freedom and vice versa.” Friedman’s connection to Pepperdine extends back to the year 1977, when he became the first speaker to take the stage at the first annual Pepperdine Associates dinner. In 1987 he was the guest speaker at one of Pepperdine’s Great Issues
luncheons, a series that brought together the most impressive thought leaders to meet and discuss the challenging issues of the day. An economic advisor to president Ronald Reagan and a University of Chicago professor, Friedman was a longtime opponent of the military draft and instrumental in successfully abolishing the mandate in 1973. He worked tirelessly to promote economic freedom with wife and collaborator, Rose, who received an honorary LLD from Pepperdine in 1986 (pictured).
Watch Gordon Lloyd’s tribute to Milton Friedman and the original speech made by Friedman at the 1977 Pepperdine Associates dinner: magazine.pepperdine.edu/friedman
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