Carlos Barbosa-Lima

Carlos Barbosa-Lima

Carlos Barbosa-Lima was born in 1944 in São Paulo, Brazil. He began studying the guitar at the age of seven and made his concert debut five years later in Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. He began his recording career while still in his teens, continuing to appear regularly in concert and on Brazilian television. Carlos studied with Isaias Savio, father figure of the modern Brazilian guitar movement, and later with the legendary Andrés Segovia.
Since his U. S. debut in 1967, he has enjoyed a global concert career marked by numerous distinguished recordings. He has also performed with many of the world's great orchestras and has been the featured performer at several prestigious music festivals. The breadth of his repertoire and his unique ability to integrate diverse musical styles--from Classical and contemporary to Brazilian and jazz--are strong features of his work. From Scarlatti and Debussy to Gershwin, Jobim and Brubeck-- Carlos Barbosa-Lima delivers inspired, satisfying performances that have catapulted him onto the world stage. Many important composers have written music for him, and he has premiered such landmark works as Alberto Ginastera's Sonata, opus 47. Carlos taught for many years at the Manhattan School of Music. He now resides in Puerto Rico, touring and recording worldwide. Although his approach to music is classical, his playing combines many styles - classical, Brazilian, popular and jazz. He explains: "Perhaps it was because of my own development in Brazil, where we do not have this airtight division between classical and popular [that] I always felt a great affinity for the popular style treated in a classical way." The ease with which Carlos moves from one style of music to another enables him to do incredible transcriptions for the guitar. He has transcribed compositions by Scarlatti, Bach, Handel, and even Joplin and has successfully arranged works by Gershwin, Sondheim, Cole Porter and many Brazilian composers. He has recorded 11 CDs for Concord Jazz, and has co-authored numerous books with John Griggs.

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