BBC Classical Guitar Special @MusicMagazine

The monthly BBC Music Magazine has a CLASSICAL GUITAR SPECIAL issue for  February 2016. Miloš Karadaglić who has just released his latest recording – Blackbird: The Beatles Album – is interviewed by Rob Ainsley: ‘ENTER THE GUITAR: Miloš Karadaglić is at the vanguard of a group of young classical guitarists giving a fresh and much-needed lease of life to…

15-year-old classical guitarist Junhong Kuang gives New York Recital

The challenging programme for Junhong Kuang’s first full-length recital in New York on Friday 11 December 2015 gives an idea of this remarkable 15-year-old Chinese guitarist’s abilities: Suite Española by Gaspar Sanz, Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 by J.S. Bach (arranged by Xu Bao), Introduction and Variations on a Theme by…

Paco de Lucía Tribute – @BarbicanCentre 9 December 2015

A special Tribute concert: Paco de Lucía – Beyond the Memory featuring the musicians that Paco de Lucía worked with closely throughout his life, will be held at the Barbican, London on Wednesday 9 December 2015 with the original members of the Paco de Lucía Sextet: flautist/saxophonist Jorge Pardo, bass player Carles Benavent, percussionist Rubem Dantas (with whom Paco de Lucía introduced the cajón 35…

Blogging about Flamenco – My Flamenco Diary

My Flamenco Diary was established on Posterous on 8 July 2009 after an inspirational concert and interview of Pepe Habichuela at the Barbican in London. Posterous closed down on 30 April 2013 and so I moved My Flamenco Diary to WordPress. Before I had to say farewell to Posterous, I decided to have a look at the statistics from My…

British Guitar Music premières Kings Place 30 October 2015

INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FOUNDATION (IGF) continues its long-standing project of commissioning and performing new works for guitar solo and in chamber ensemble, with the première of Spook  by Anna Meredith (b. 1978) and Six Songs for Solo Guitar by Howard Skempton (b. 1947), played by Tom Kerstens and the G Plus Ensemble: the guitarist Adam Brown, the percussionist Karen Hutt…

Classical Guitar Recordings – Gustavo Leguizamón: Pablo Márquez

EL CUCHI BIEN TEMPERADO – THE WELL-TEMPERED CUCHI is a recording of music by Gustavo Leguizamón, arranged and performed by Pablo Márquez for ECM, produced by Manfred Eicher. A quick glance through the titles of the 17 tracks shows that the Argentinian composer, Gustavo ‘Cuchi’ Leguizamón (1917–2000) has written each of the pieces in familiar rhythms: zambas, chacareras, cuecas…

Classical Guitar recordings – Schubert (Re)inventions: Ensemble Paladino

SCHUBERT (RE)INVENTIONS by the Ensemble Paladino is a double-CD which surprisingly contains some première recordings of Lieder for soprano and guitar by Franz Schubert (1797–1828) from Franz von Schlecta’s manuscript, published recently in a facsimile edition by Stefan Hackl and Erik Pierre Hofmann. The first CD features arrangements of Schubert’s chamber music, although the Notturno in D major for guitar, flute, viola…

British Guitar Music premières Purcell Room 15 July 2015

MORGAN BUCKLEY began commissioning works for the classical guitar as part of his research project on the collaborative relationship between composers and performers during the process of composition.** At this Purcell Room recital on Wednesday 15 July 2015, we will hear the premières of some of these works: Gary Ryan has been working with Edwin Roxburgh on his…

Concerto for Guitar & Violin première – William Lovelady

On Friday 12 June 2015, the guitarist Craig Ogden and the violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen premièred William Lovelady’s South American Suite, for Guitar and Violin and string orchestra with the Orchestra of the Swan, conducted by David Curtis at the Stratford Arts House in Stratford-upon-Avon. The three-movement double concerto, South American Suite, was commissioned by the Orchestra of the Swan…