Biography

Last updated on June 30, 2024

Suvan Agarwal (b.2001) is an internationally recognized American guitarist. He has won numerous prizes, namely first prizes at the 2025 Dutch Guitar Foundation International Guitar Competition, the 2024 Josefina P Tuason International Guitar Competition, the 2024 Oberlin Conservatory Bach Competition, as well as a third prize at the 2025 Koblenz International Guitar Competition, the biggest of its kind in Europe. He has performed in the United States, Scotland, Switzerland, and Japan, at venues such as the University of St Andrews and Kings Place in London.

Suvan started playing guitar at the age of five taught by Frank Longay, creator of the Suzuki guitar method. During high school he studied guitar under the guidance of Alexandra Viloteau (née Iranfar). Suvan recently graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory, where he studied guitar under Stephen Aron and obtained two bachelors degrees in guitar performance and physics. He has participated in masterclasses with David Russell, Leo Brouwer, and Raphaela Smits, among many others. He has also had instruction from Gentaro Takada, and participated in the 2024 Aspen Music Festival where he spent 4 weeks studying under Sharon Isbin. Suvan is a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he is studying under professors Matthew McAllister and Allan Neave. He is a recipient of the prestigious ABRSM post-graduate fellowship. Suvan will soon begin pursuing a masters degree at The Juilliard School under the guidance Professor Sharon Isbin as a recipient of a full ride scholarship.

In addition to his musical activities, Suvan's interests include physics and computer science. In 2022, Suvan was a recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) scholarship to conduct geophysics research at the University of Hawaii, and in 2023, a scholarship from the Friends of the University of Tokyo (FUTI) foundation to conduct geophysics research at the University of Tokyo Earthquake Research Institute. He studied abroad at Waseda University in 2022, and was the first Oberlin College student ever to receive the Bridging Scholarship from the United States-Japan Bridging Foundation. Suvan was born in Japan and grew up in Sunnyvale, California. His mother is Japanese-American and his father is Indian. He speaks English and Japanese.