Jose Antonio Escobar

 Jose Antonio Escobar   “...The mastery, intelligence and sound of José Antonio on such diverse pieces undoubtedly position him among the outstanding guitarists of our time.“ (Le Cahiers de la Guitare, Paris, 2002) “Finally José Antonio Escobar gave us Villa-Lobos’ 12 Etudes, demonstrating that he is one of the finest young players to have emerged from South America in recent years” (Robert Matthew-Walker, Musical Opinion, London,  May 2007). “Escobar is an expressive, mature artist who has transcended the nitty-gritty of technique and gets to the essence of the music.” (Jeffrey Rossman, Classical Voice of North Carolina, 2008). “Guitar aficionados need to hear Escobar’s absolutely stunning playing.” (Göran Forsling,...

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Jorge Santos

 Jorge Santos Turíbio Santos (Turibio Soares Santos) is considered one of the best Brazilian guitar players alive. His father, Turíbio Soares da Silva Santos Filho, and his mother, Neide Lobato Soares Santos, also from Maranhão, were joyful persons, fond of music and serenades. The family moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1946, bringon also Turíbio’s newly born sister, Giselda. The siblings Ronaldo and Cláudio were born in Rio de Janeiro in 1948 and 1955, respectively. Upon their arrival to Rio, the whole family lived together with Turíbio’s grandparents, Dona Martiniana and Isaac Lobato, in the Tijuca district. Later, in 1948, they moved to one of the earliest buildings set up in Copacabana, at Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana,...

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John Williams

 John Christopher Williams  John Christopher Williams was born in Melbourne, Australia on 24th April 1941. His father, Leonard Williams, had emigrated to Australia from London in the late 1930s, where he met his wife, Malaan, through a common love of jazz music and political activism. Len was a respected jazz guitarist whose interests had slowly turned towards the classical repertoire, and when John was four years old, he received his first guitar from his father, although John insists that proper tuition did not start for another two or three years. Because of his new-found love for classical technique, Len refused to allow John to dabble in more free-form styles of playing, a fact often regretted by the virtuoso in later...

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Johann Sebastian Bach

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH BIOGRAPHY 1685-1750      Baroque Composer J.S. Bach wrote the genius UNFINISHED masterpiece "ART OF FUGUE" in his last years, while SLOWLY GOING BLIND!   Johann Sebastian Bach is THE most brilliant BAROQUE COMPOSER in history. Bach wrote the genius unfinished masterpiece "ART OF FUGUE" in his last years, while SLOWLY GOING BLIND.  After an eye operation, Bach reportedly died mid-bar while writing the final fugue, having just composed a musical notation based on his name:   B A C H.   Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany into a musical family. He was taught violin by his...

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Göran Söllscher

 Göran Söllscher   Although the two are often mentioned in a single breath, the temperament, style, and even career details of Swedish classical guitarist Göran Söllscher and those of the controversial and famous Japanese guitar virtuoso Kazuhito Yamashita are really just about as different as one could imagine. Yamashita was thrust into the limelight while still a teenager; Söllscher, on the other hand, continued his conservatory studies until his mid-twenties and took his time building up a major international career. Yamashita puts his amazing technical skill on display each and every night (and sometimes gets criticized for doing so); Söllscher is altogether more reserved, allowing mechanism to dominate only when he...

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Francisco Tárrega

Francisco Tárrega   Francisco Tárrega was an important Spanish composer whose music and style of guitar playing became strongly influential in the twentieth century. He was central to reviving the guitar as a solo instrument in recital and concerts. Among his most popular compositions are Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Danza mora. He wrote nearly eighty original works for the guitar and over a hundred transcriptions, mostly of piano pieces by Chopin, Beethoven, and others. Francisco Tárrega was born on November 21, 1852, in Villareal, Castellon, Spain. An accident in his early childhood permanently impaired his eyesight. He was taught his first lessons on guitar by Eugeni Ruiz, ironically a blind musician. In 1862, concert...

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Fernando Sor

 Fernando Sor There was a time, (25-30 year’s ago) that a Classical Guitar recital would seem incomplete without the inclusion of a work by Fernando Sor. Today it is rare for him to be included in a concert programme. It must be said that his other works , Operas, Ballets, etc., have been silent since his death, and today his reputation rests solely as a composer of guitar music. It cannot be that today’s new generation of young guitarists find his pieces unworthy, as his contribution to the literature of the guitar is undeniable, (the critic Fetis adorned Sor with the title “The Beethoven of the Guitar”). He is acknowledged in the development of technique for the instrument and his collaboration with makers improved ...

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