Hunter Hallberg

Young Guitarist Of The Year

Finalists: Hunter Hallberg, Abigail Zachko, Alex Hooi

Our under-16 category was judged by the Guitarist, Total

Guitar and Guitar Techniques editorial teams alongside three pros: Chapman Guitars founder and YouTube celebrity Rob Chapman, Bullet For My Valentine’s mainman Matt Tuck, and blues-rock player Chris Buck. The latter was there on the day to judge our finalists alongside our own judges, Guitarist editor-in chief Jamie Dickson, MusicRadar.com’s Michael AstleyBrown and Total Guitar’s technique editor Chris Bird.

First up was 14-year-old Hunter Hallberg from Colorado who was inspired by attending a John Petrucci masterclass at his local Guitar Center four years ago. Performing his own composition,

Jewel with a Petrucci Music Man signature model, the influence of the Dream Theater maestro was clear, but the level of maturity, poise and taste in his writing and feel wowed judges.

Fellow American Abigail Zachko, 15, took up the instrument after moving to New Jersey a few years ago. Though she plays classic metal covers with band Lunatic Fringe, her performance was based on two pieces by other players (Mateus Asato and Mark Lettieri) and reflected her more recent interest in modern progressive styles. To even to attempt to enter the realm of these players at 15 proves just how far Abigail has come in such a short time. With her clean tone offering nowhere to hide, her fluid runs and emotive expression were spellbinding.

Singapore’s Alex Hooi took a 14-hour flight to reach us and soon impressed the crew with his improvisation during soundcheck. Inspired to play by Slash’s performance of The Godfather Theme on his Made In Stoke live album, his choice of a Les Paul wasn’t surprising, but the ebb and flow in his dynamic piece over a sourced backing track dazzled.

In the end, it was the full deck of songwriting and playing abilities Hunter demonstrated with his own composition that won him the very closely fought title and prize of a PRS S2 Singlecut SemiHollow, plus the one-year Ernie Ball endorsement and digital subscriptions our magazines Guitar Techniques, Guitarist and

Total Guitar that all winners received. It’s hopefully set this him on a path to further achievements in music, but never forgetting what matters most – “the guitar is a lot of fun,” he reminds us.