National Collegiate Solo Competition

National Collegiate Solo Competition

Congratulations to the winner of the 2023 U.S. Army Band National Collegiate Solo Competition, Mateo Seghezzo Alvarez!

Mateo Seghezzo Alvarez

Mateo Seghezzo was born in 2000 in the mountainous northwestern province of Salta, Argentina. He first came in contact with percussion at the age of 4, while living in Wageningen, the Netherlands, where he took African djembe lessons with a teacher from Mozambique. Once back in Argentina, he started jazz drum set lessons when he was 7, studying with Oscar “Chinato” Torres and Sebastián Hoyos.

He is currently in the last year of his bachelor's degree in percussion performance at Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, Texas), under the tutelage of Dr. John Lane. There he grew a fascination for the marimba, an instrument that built a bridge between his life-long passions for drums and baroque music.

Among other competitions and awards, Mateo obtained the 1st-place Gold Medal in the Young Texas Artists Music Competition, and 1st-place in the SHSU Concerto Competition. He was also both the first international student and music major to ever receive the Texas State University System (TSUS) Regents’ Student Scholar Award.

Mateo will be pursuing a master’s degree in early keyboard performance (harpsichord & organ) at SHSU, under the direction of Dr. Mario Aschauer. His goal is to understand baroque music from a historically informed perspective, to then translate this knowledge insightfully to the marimba.


2022 National Collegiate Solo Competition Winner


2021 National Collegiate Solo Competition Winner


2020 National Collegiate Solo Competition Winner


2019 National Collegiate Solo Competition Winner

Past Winners

Year Winner School
2022 Matthew Meadows, horn University of Alabama
2021 Landon Chang, saxophone University of North Texas
2020 Salvador Flores, saxophone Northwestern University
2019 Charles "Chappy" Gibb, flute University of North Texas
2018 Trevor Borroero, marimba
2017 Dorien Tate, bass trombone
2016 Sandra Bailey, bassoon
2015 Brittany Lasch, trombone
2014 Christopher Leslie, euphonium
2013 Benjamin Andrews, marimba
2012 Francesco Camuglia, flute
2011 Rachel Perry, saxophone