Ana Vidovic – Klassiek

Ana Vidović (born 8 November 1980, Karlovac, Croatia) is a Croatian virtuosa classical guitarist.

A child prodigy, she started playing guitar at the age of five, inspired by her brother Viktor. Her father was also a guitarist, but was an electric guitar player. She began performing at the age of 8 and by the age of 11 she was performing internationally, and at 13 became the youngest student to attend the prestigious Academy of Music in Zagreb where she studied with Professor Istvan Romer. Vidović’s reputation in Europe led to an invitation to study at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, U.S., with Manuel Barrueco, from where she graduated in May 2003. She has lived in the United States since, where she also works as a private tutor.

Vidović plays a Jim Redgate guitar exclusively and has said, “When I got it and began to play, I immediately knew that this was the instrument that I want to be playing for a long time.”

She has released 6 CDs published by Croatia Records, BGS, and Naxos and has released two DVDs published by Mel Bay publications.

Vidović has won an impressive number of prizes and international competitions all over the world. These include first prizes in the Albert Augustine International Competition in Bath, England, the Fernando Sor competition in Rome, Italy, and the Francisco Tárrega competition in Benicasim, Spain. Other top prizes include the Eurovision Young Musicians competition, the Mauro Giuliani competition in Italy, the Printemps de la Guitare in Belgium, and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. The Gramophone remarked her “extraordinary dexterity”.

David Russell – Klassiek

David Russell (born in 1953 in Glasgow) is a classical guitarist. He plays Matthias Dammann guitars.

When Russell was five years of age, his family moved from Glasgow to Minorca, where he became interested in the guitar, imitating the likes of Andrés Segovia and Julian Bream.

Today, Russell resides in Galicia, but spends most of his time touring, appearing in such cities as New York, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Madrid, Toronto, Amsterdam, and Denver. He is regularly invited to play in music festivals.

David has won amateur golf tournaments, mainly in Scotland and Spain. He is an avid supporter of his local football team, Celta de Vigo.

During his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, Russell won the Julian Bream Guitar Prize twice and received a scholarship from the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust. Later he won numerous international competitions, including the Andrés Segovia Competition, the José Ramírez Competition, and Spain’s Francisco Tárrega Competition.

Russell was named a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1997.

In May 2003 he was awarded the honour of being made “adopted son” of Es Migjorn, the town on Minorca where he grew up.

In November 2003 he was given the Medal of Honour of the Conservatory of the Balearics.

In 2005, he won a Grammy Award for best instrumental soloist in classical music for his CD Aire Latino.

Jozsef Eotvos – Klassiek

József Eötvös was born in Pécs in 1962. He graduated at the Franz Liszt College of Music in Weimar as the student of Roland Zimmer and studied the art of composing from Franz Just.

He regularly gives concerts in several countries of the world: he has played, among others, in Austria , the Czech Republic, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Germany, Romania, Switzerland, Sweden, Slovakia, Lichtenstein, Japan and Singapore. He is invited to perform both solo concerts and orchestral concertos. He has made radio and television recordings both in his home land and abroad.

In his master courses, which sometimes concentrate on Baroque and chamber music, he carries out excellent music pedagogical activities. He is a regular jury member of international guitar competitions and the artistic leader of the International Guitar Festival in Esztergom and the Balatonfured International Guitar Festival. In his concerts, besides his own masterpieces and arrangements, the popularization of 20th century and contemporary Hungarian music plays an important role. (Among others: the works of Barna Kováts, Ferenc Farkas, Máté Hollós and Iván Madarász.) .

His arrangements are musical curiosities which are played on this instrument only by him in the whole wide world. His arrangement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations is regarded by critics as the arrangement of the century. Following this success, he produced other arrangements as well, such as Bach’s lute works (Chanterelle), Chopin’s piano pieces 1 – 2 (Professional Music Press – Poland and Gendai Guitar – Japan ), Brahms’s 21 Hungarian Dances (MelBay) and J. S. Bach The Art of Fugue.
His compositions, which are written on the guitar and other instruments as well, are also published, such as the Willow Variations (Editions Orphée, Columbus Ohio 1991), the Five Aphorisms (Trekel Verlag, Hamburg 1997) and the Featherlets (Trekel Verlag, Hamburg 2000).

He has been a teacher at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest since 2002 and he was the first in Hungary to establish a guitar faculty at a university (music academy) level.

In 2002 he was given the Artisjus Prize for the introduction and popularization of contemporary Hungarian musical pieces and he was awarded with the Franz Liszt Prize in 2004 in recognition of his work.

His college course book titled “Thoughts On J. S. Bach’s Music And The Performance Of His Lute Works” was published by the University of Pécs in 2006

Manual Barrueco-Klassiek

Manuel Barrueco is een van de belangrijkste klassieke gitaristen van deze tijd. Hij trad op met orkesten als het Philadelphia Orchestra en het Boston Symphony Orchestra onder leiding van Seiji Ozawa. Met laatstgenoemde orkest en dirigent verzorgde hij de Amerikaanse première van Toru Takemitsu’s To the Edge of Dream. In 2007 werd hij voor de Grammy’s genomineerd in de categorie beste instrumentale solist. Zijn opname van Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez met Plácido Domingo en het Philharmonia Orchestra werd verkozen tot beste uitvoering door Classic CD Magazine.Manuel Barrueco is regelmatig te horen op de belangrijkste podia ter wereld. Zoals de MusikVerein in Wenen, de Royal Albert Hall in London en het Teatro Real in Madrid. Ook in Azië en Latijns-Amerika is hij een gevierd musicus. De documentaire A Gift and a Life die Michael Lawrence over Manuel Barrueco maakte werd uitgezonden in de VS, Japan, Duitsland en Spanje. In zijn inmiddels meer dan dertigjarige carrière is deze ware meester op de gitaar al een groot inspirator geweest voor talloze componisten, waaronder Roberto Sierra, Arvo Pärt and Toru Takemitsu.

Raphaella Smits – Klassiek

Naar de website van Raphaella Smits – Klik hier

Raphaella Smits was born on the 1st of February 1957. She grew up in an artistic family. Her father René Smits is a sculptor and an amateur violinist. Her mother Carolien Van Giel was a teacher in the Waldorf kindergarden and an amateur pianist. Her brother Johan Smits was a professional violinist.

During her childhood, Raphaella enjoyed singing in a choir and participated in several productions in the Royal Flemish Opera of Antwerp. At the Waldorf school she learned to play the whole family of the recorders (the vertical flutes soprano, alto, tenor and bass).

Seeing that she enjoyed singing so much, Raphaella’s parents bought her a guitar to accompany herself. After a few months of simple chord strumming, however, twelve-year-old Raphaella became frustrated and asked her music teacher Ward de Beer (whose instrument was the violin), for help.

Raphaella-Smits2
“Of course.”, he responded. “Next month Andrès Segovia is giving a recital in Brussels : I shall go to observe him and I’ll tell you what I have learned”. Seeing the great Spanish master of the guitar, did nothing to dampen the violinist’s guitaristic self-confidence.
“Now I know how to do it.”, he told Raphaella upon his return. “Put your left hand here, hold your right hand like this, put your left foot on this stack of books and just play!”. And play she did.

After a short while the consensus at the Smits family was that it was time to move on. “Which teacher should we contact?”, asked her parents. “It makes no difference”, said the violinist. “Even if she learns from a baker, she will inevitably become a guitarist!”. True prophecy in our own time …

 

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José Tomás-Klassiek

José Tomás was born in Alicante and began his musical studies with Óscar Esplá. He would later transcribe Esplá’s piano suite, Levante, for the guitar as well as re-discover and transcribe Esplá’s previously unknown work, Tempo di Sonata. The sonata, originally composed for the harp, was given its first performance in 1978 by Tomás himself. Tomás was initially a self-taught guitarist, but then continued his studies with Regino Sainz de la Maza, Emilio Pujol, and Alirio Diaz. On Diaz’s recommendation, he went to study with Andrés Segovia in Siena. After Siena he continued his training with Segovia in 1958 and 1959 at Música en Compostela, and served as Segovia’s assistant there.

In 1961 he won first prize at the Concurso Internacional de Guitarra in Orense founded by Segovia, after which he primarily dedicated himself to teaching in his native city, where he was Professor of Guitar at the Conservatorio Superior de Música “Óscar Esplá”, a post which he held for two decades. From 1964 until the mid-1970s, he also took over from Segovia as director of Música en Compostela.

As a concert performer, Tomás was known for his enviable sound and interpretative skill. He was also known for his transcriptions, especially those of scores from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. This in turn led him to adopt an eight string guitar, developed for him by José Ramírez III. The two extra strings allowed him to play music originally composed for the vihuela and lute on a modern guitar without sacrificing any notes. However, his primary contribution was to guitar pedagogy. “Pragmatic and erudite, but at the same time humble”, he received a constant stream of guitarists who visited his home in Alicante seeking his advice. Amongst the classical guitarists who studied with Tomás are Thomas Müller-Pering, Ahmet Kanneci, Edson Lopes, Ignacio Rodes, Carles Trepat and Edoardo Catemario.

Manuel Barrueco – Klassiek

Marcin Dylla – Klassiek

Marcin Dylla is a Polish classical guitarist. He was born on June 6, 1976 in Chorzów. Between 1995 – 2000 he studied at the State Academy of Music in Katowice with Wanda Palacz. He continued his education abroad in the Musical Academy in Basel, Switzerland with Oscar Ghiglia, at the Musical Academy in Freiburg with S. Prunnbauer, and the Conservatorium Maastricht with Carlo Marchione. Although the piece was written in 1933, Dylla gave the premiere performance of Joaquin Rodrigo’s Toccata para guitarra on June 1, 2006, in Madrid. He was the winner of the Alhambra International Guitar Competition in 2000 and of the GFA (Guitar Foundation of America) Guitar Competition in 2007.

Gabriel Bianco – Klassiek

The French guitarist, Gabriel Bianco, was born into a family of musicians, and received an early start on the guitar, receiving lessons with his father at age 5. A few years later, in 1997, he began his studies in Paris with Ramon de Herrera at the Conservatoire National de Région, Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris (CNR-CSP). He went through it in 2005 with an unanimously first prize and congratulations. The same year, he received the highest rank in the entrance competition to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), where he received the highest performance distinction under the teaching of Olivier Chassain. In addition, he attended master-classes with Roberto Aussel, Jose Luis Campana, Roland Dyens, Marcin Dylla, Edouardo Fernandez, Jérémy Jouve, Stephen Schmidt. Since 2005 he has also studied with French virtuoso Judicaël Perroy.

Gabriel Bianco has many various musical activities (theater piece, creation of new contemporary works…), but his main one is to perform as a soloist in recital. He played his first concert in Paris when he was 15, and in 2002-2003, he performed in a theater play in Paris during a whole season with “théâtre fragile” company. He has performed concerts regularly for the last five years, and has already appeared in over 30 music festivals across the word, in France, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Portugal, Slovakia, and Thaïland, and now he is invited to play in differents countries (France, Italy, Autria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Spain…).

Gabriel Bianco has already won severals prizes in internationals competitions in Europe among which : 1st prize at the International Guitar Competition of Sernancelhe, Portugal (2005); 1st prize at the International Guitar Competition of Ile de Ré, France (2006); 1st prize at the International Guitar Competition of Gitarre Forum Wien, Austria (2006); 1st prize at the International Guitar Competition of Tychy (Śląska Jesień Gitarowa), Poland (2006); 1st prize at the International Guitar Competition “Hubert Käppel” of Koblenz , Germany (2007). He also won 1st prize at the competition in Barbezieux, France. His most recent win at the 2008 Guitar Foundation of America Competition (GFA) has earned him the coveted 50-concert tour in the USA, Mexico, and Canada with additional concerts in China, Colombia, and Brazil.

When he was 12, Gabriel Bianco recorded for French television, “Mezzo TV”, for the program “Musiciens en herbe”, and later appeared on Romanian television (TVR Cultura). He takes part too in the creation of contemporary works (Alma Sola). He has just recorded a DVD for the Italian magazine La Guitarra and his first CD was released in 2009 on Naxos.

Martha Masters – Klassiek

The Illinois Times wrote that guitarist Martha Masters “…is on a swift and certain trajectory to star territory.” Masters’ playing has been described as “seductive” (Ft. Worth Star Telegram), “intelligent and natural” (Guitar Review), and “refined and elegant” (American Record Guide). She is active as a solo recitalist, as a chamber musician, and as a soloist with orchestras. Recent concert seasons have included performances on concert series and at festivals in China, England, Denmark, Spain, Poland, Germany, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, and throughout the United States.

Masters’ first CD, Serenade, is now in its second printing, and her Naxos recital disc sold over 10,000 copies worldwide in the first year of its release. Her recording of Italian music was released in 2006 on the GSP label, and a recording of early 20th Century Spanish music was released on GSP in 2009. Masters has published books with Mel Bay and Alfred, and has received critical acclaim as an author and pedagogue.

In October of 2000 Martha Masters won first prize in the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Solo Competition, including a recording contract with Naxos, a concert video with Mel Bay, and an extensive North American concert tour. In November of 2000, she also won the Andrés Segovia International Guitar Competition in Linares, Spain and was a finalist in the Alexandre Tansman International Competition of Musical Personalities in Lodz, Poland. Prior to 2000, Masters was a prizewinner or finalist in numerous other international competitions, including the 1999 International Guitar Competition “Paco Santiago Marín” in Granada, Spain, the 1998 Tokyo International Guitar Competition and the 1997 GFA International Solo Competition.

In addition to being on the guitar faculty of California State University Fullerton and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Masters is also the President of the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA), dedicated to supporting the instrument, its players and its music in the US and throughout the world.