Berlin, June 1 (CNA) Lin Chia-wei, a young Taiwanese guitarist, has bagged three prizes in Europe in the last two months, adding to his tally of nine major guitar titles in Europe over the last three years.

Following his win in the professional division at Germany's 2012 Guitar Festival Nordhorn in April, the 23-year-old said Friday that he felt confident about participating in upcoming contests in Slovakia, Poland, Portugal and Greece later this year.

Lin is currently competing at the 4th International Classical Guitar Competition being held in Erwitte, Germany.

In May, Lin took second place among 264 entrants from 23 countries around the world at the 9th European Classical Guitar Competition held in Gorizia, Italy.

In addition, at the 2012 Hubert Kappel Guitar Competition held May 21-28 in Germany, Lin grabbed another second place.

Lin, the son of a street market vendor, started learning the guitar when he was 4 years old from his father Lin Kung-hsin, and began performing in public two years later.

Lin started taking formal lessons when he was 10 years old and it quickly became apparent that he had talent.

To develop his guitar skills further, Lin went to Germany in 2009 to study at the Koblenz International Guitar Academy, where he became a student of renowned guitar teacher Hubert Kappel.

(By Lillian Lin and Hanna Liu)
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