Over the last twenty years, Assad has concentrated most of his efforts on building a repertoire for the guitar duo. He has extended the possibilities of the two-guitar combination through his arrangements of Latin American music by composers such as Piazzolla, Villa Lobos, and Ginastera as well as Baroque to Modern music by Scarlatti, Rameau, Soler, Bach, Mompou, Ravel, Debussy, and Gershwin among others. He has completed over 300 arrangements for different chamber music settings, arrangements for Gidon Kremer, Dawn Upshaw, Yo Yo Ma, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, TrioConBrio, Iwao Furusawa, Paquito D’Rivera, Turtle Island String Quartet, L.A. Quartet, Luciana Souza, and Vancouver Cantata Singers.
As a composer, Assad has completed more than fifty works for guitar, many of which have become standards in the guitar repertoire. His "Aquarelle" for solo guitar was chosen as the required contemporary work for the 2002 Guitar Foundation of America Competition in Miami. In 2007, he wrote the set piece for the 2008 Guitar Foundation of America Competition named "Valsa de Outono." Assad’s orchestral compositions include the ballet "Scarecrow," the concerto "Mikis" for guitar and strings, "Fantasia Carioca" for two guitars which he and Odair premiered with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1998, "Interchange," a concerto for guitar quartet and orchestra premiered by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet with the San Antonio Symphony in 2009, the concerto "Originis" for violin, guitar duo, and orchestra recorded live with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, and the concerto "Phases" for guitar duo and orchestra premiered in 2011 by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra with the Assad Brothers as soloists.
Badi Assad is a Brazilian virtuoso singer, guitarist, composer, author, and actress. She is particularly well known in the jazz and worldbeat genres. Badi comes from a musical family with her father, Jorge Assad, playing the bandolim (mandolin) and her two older brothers, Sérgio and Odair Assad, playing classical guitar and making up the Duo Assad. Badi’s vast career, accomplishments, and discography can be explored at her website below!
Leon Atkinson is a world-renowned classical guitarist based out of Sandpoint, Idaho. He co-hosts the weekly Guitar Hour on Spokane Public Radio with KPBX program director Verne Windham. Atkinson attended The High School of Performing Arts in New York City. There, he met and performed with poet Langston Hughes. While at the School of Performing Arts, he played regularly at Greenwich Village coffee houses, then went on to study with Andrés Segovia and attend the Manhattan School of Music. He holds degrees from The School of Performing Arts and The International Course of Music, Santiago de Campostela, Spain. Leon's musical journey has taken him around the world, allowing him to share the stage with the likes of Ron Carter, Mary Lou Williams and The Alvin Ailey Ballet to name a few. In 1974, he debuted at Town Hall and the following year he played Carnegie Hall.
Leon currently heads the guitar program at Eastern Washington University. For more than three decades, Leon has shared his gift and inspired students and players with his love for the guitar. He was diagnosed with kidney failure a decade ago and was on dialysis — nine hours a day, seven days a week at home — for years until he received a kidney transplant three years ago. "I'm now back at 100 percent," Atkinson says. "I'm travelling and doing concerts all over the world again and still doing my radio show. It's amazing what one little organ can do."
Praised by the distinguished Classical Guitar Magazine as “having the star potential to serve as inspiration for new generations of guitarists to come,” the Beijing Guitar Duo made their New York debut in Carnegie Hall in 2010 and launched their international concert career.
Guitarists Meng Su and Yameng Wang of the Beijing Guitar Duo have performed around the world in halls such as the Concertgebouw, Palau de Musica, Tchaikovsky Hall and the National Theatre in Beijing. This season will take them to a 12-city concert tour in the United States in February (Washington D.C., Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Knoxville) as well as other performances in Europe and China. The duo regularly collaborates with orchestras, in ensemble with flutist Marina Piccinini, guitarists Grigoryan Brothers and with their mentor Manuel Barrueco touring in Europe, Australia, Asia and the U.S.
The Beijing Guitar Duo's performances and recordings have impressed the public with “an ability and artistry that exceeds their years.” Their debut CD Maracaípe received a Latin Grammy nomination for the titled piece, which was dedicated to them by renowned guitaristcomposer Sérgio Assad. Their second CD, Bach to Tan Dun, has been widely noted for the world-premiere recording of Tan Dun’s Eight Memories in Watercolor, specially arranged for the duo by Manuel Barrueco. A recording in trio, China West, with Maestro Barrueco was released in May 2014.
Carlos Bonell has been described by the Classical Guitar Magazine, UK as “one of the great communicators of the guitar world”. He has recorded more than twenty albums and played in forty countries, with concert appearances ranging from intimate recitals to concertos with symphony orchestras.
His latest album Magical Mystery Guitar Tour, inspired by his association with Sir Paul McCartney is dedicated to the music of the Beatles in Carlos’ own arrangements for solo guitar. It went to number one on the UK iTunes classical album charts in May 2012.
Carlos was born in London of Spanish parents in 1949. He started to play at the age of five, learning to play Spanish folk music from his father who was a keen amateur guitarist. He completed his studies at the Royal College of Music with John Williams, where he was appointed the youngest ever professor at the age of 22.
The Brasil Guitar Duo, hailed by Classical Guitar magazine for its “maturity of musicianship and technical virtuosity,” is equally at home on a classical or a worldmusic series or performing a concerto with orchestra. João Luiz and Douglas Lora met in São Paulo as teenage guitar students and their successful partnership of over twenty years results from their innovative programming— which features a seamless blend of traditional and Brazilian works—leading to a busy global touring schedule and a growing catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings garnering two Latin Grammy nominations.
Committed to performing new chamber music employing the guitar, the Duo joined cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Carlos Prieto for the October 2014 world premiere of El arco y la lira, a work for two cellos and two guitars by the esteemed Cuban composer Leo Brouwer. On the same program—a highlight of the sixth annual Festival Leo Brouwer in Havana—the Duo gave the Cuban premiere of Brouwer’s Sonata de Los Viajeros, which they had presented in its U.S. premiere the previous month and recorded for a Naxos CD of Brouwer’s complete works for two guitars, which was nominated for a 2016 Latin Grammy award for Best New Composition.
Eager advocates for new concerti for two guitars and orchestra, the Duo premiered a Concerto for Two Guitars and Orchestra by Brazilian composer Paulo Bellinati with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in June 2012, under the direction of Giancarlo Guerrero, and gave the work its U.S. premiere in April 2013. In February 2016, they recorded the Bellinati concerto along with Leo Brouwer’s concerto Book of Signs with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Amado.
The Duo’s principal teacher was Henrique Pinto, and they also worked privately with Fabio Zanon, Paulo Martelli, Sergio Abreu, and Alice Artzt. Douglas Lora earned his Master’s degree from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music as a student of Dr. Rene Gonzalez. Douglas is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at University of Southern California under Scott Tennant. Lora develops studies in Brazilian Music at Centrum Workshops in Washington State. João Luiz received his Master’s degree from Mannes College the New School for Music under Michael Newman, and as a recipient of the Augustine Foundation scholarship he earned a doctoral degree from Manhattan School of Music where he studied with David Leisner. João is the director of chamber music at CUNY-Hunter College and the head of guitar studies at Stony Brook University.
The Duo actively strives to expand the repertoire for two guitars, with Lora contributing works of his own and Luiz arranging both classical and Brazilian music. Appearing frequently in diverse non-traditional spaces, the Duo combines a broad repertoire of classical guitar duos (Bach, Sor, Scarlatti, Rameau, Debussy, etc.) with such traditional Brazilian dance forms as choro, samba, maxixe, and baião.
The Cavatina Duo—Eugenia Moliner, flute (Spain) and Denis Azabagic, guitar (Bosnia)—has become one of the most impressive combinations of its kind in the world: “Style, sympathy, and technical aplomb . . . it's doubtful that the Cavatina's sophisticated and artistic playing could be surpassed” (Fanfare).
Dedicated soloists and chamber musicians, the Cavatina Duo breaks convention with their combination of instruments. Add to that their daring choices of varied and versatile repertoire, and the result is new sounds, colors and musical phrasings, which in return awakens a high level of emotion and audience response. A Cavatina Duo concert is a musical experience you don’t want to miss.
Dedicated soloists and chamber musicians, the Cavatina Duo breaks convention with their combination of instruments. Add to that their daring choices of varied and versatile repertoire, and the result is new sounds, colors and musical phrasings, which in return awakens a high level of emotion and audience response. A Cavatina Duo concert is a musical experience you don’t want to miss.
Radio and television stations in Europe and North America such as WFMT and NPR have broadcast the duo’s performances. They have been the subjects of interviews in international magazines such as Chamber Music America, TodoFlauta (Spain), FluteTalk (USA), Classical Guitar (UK), Guitarra Magazine (web), Soundboard (USA) and Flute—the British Flute Society. They are the first guitar and flute duo to be featured on the covers of both Classical Guitar Magazine (UK) and the cover of FluteTalk (USA)
Cavatina Duo has performed with orchestras and string quartets in Europe, USA, India, South Korea and Mexico including the Chicago Sinfonietta, Traverse Symphony, Sarajevo Philharmonic, Daejeon Philharmonic and the Youth Orchestra of Monterrey, Mexico. In 2010 Cavatina Duo gave the world premiere of another work commissioned by them from Alan Thomas, “Concerto for Flute, Guitar and Orchestra,” with the Camerata Serbica at the Guitar Art Festival in Belgrade.
Eugenia Moliner has been acclaimed as “brilliant” by the British Flute Society magazine. She has performed with principal musicians from the Chicago Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony orchestras as well with many chamber ensembles, including the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Civitas Ensemble, Chinese Fine Arts Musicians... This season she will collaborate with the Aspen String Trio. Her discography includes seven CDs.
A prize-winner in twenty-four international competitions, Denis Azabagic has been described as a “virtuoso with flawless technique” by Soundboard Magazine. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Chicago and Madrid Symphonies, among many others. Azabagic has collaborated with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Civitas Ensemble and the Cuarteto Casals. His discography includes twelve CDs, two DVDs and a book “On competitions-Dealing with the performance stress.”
The duo has compiled a substantial number of recordings on the Spanish and North American labels Opera Tres, Cedille, Bridge and Orobroy Records. For “The Balkan Project” (Cedille 2010) Cavatina Duo commissioned new works for flute and guitar; they selected nine composers and chose music from the Balkans, reflecting Azabagic's heritage. Their following release was “Cavatina Duo Plays Astor Piazzolla” (Bridge 2010). This time they commissioned Grammy winner Sérgio Assad and his daughter Clarice, a rising star in the music world, to arrange/compose many works originally written for other combination of instruments or, as in the case of the Flute Etudes, creating the guitar part as well. Mr. Assad, having worked with Piazzolla himself, was the perfect match for this project.
Denis and Eugenia are constantly researching for new musical ideas and projects, and this brought them to "Sephardic Journey" (Cedille 2016), which consists of new commissions of works based on Sephardic melodies from five leading composers. The world premiere was held at the Ravinia Festival with the renowned Avalon Quartet in March 2016 and the CD was released on Cedille Records of that same year.
In 2017 Cavatina Duo duo together with the soprano Patrice Michaels collaborated with composer Laurie Altman and multi Grammy winner producer Judy Sherman, on the release of a CD "Sonic Migrations" for the German Record company NEOS.
Their latest album “Folias and Fantasias”, released in 2020 by Bridge Records was named Critic’s Choice 2020, by American Record Guide.
Denis Azabagic and Eugenia Moliner are Artists-Faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and teaching associates at the University of Illinois at Chicago, UIC.
Curt Chambers is an American singer, song writer, producer and recording artist who has gained notoriety for his unique fusions of rock, soul, county, and hip hop. Curt's immense talent partnered with his wildly diverse blues, country and hip hop power packed performances humbly provided him the opportunity to share stages with a wide array of musical legends such as BB King, and Jerry Douglas as well as rock and hip hop icons Travis Barker, P. Diddy, Dr. Dre, Eminem, the legendary LL Cool J along with Country stars Chris Young, Florida Georgia Line, Tyler Rich, Jake Own, Dustin Lynch, and many more. As a graduate of William Patterson University where he majored in Jazz and Performance Studies, Curt further extended his musical palette making him adept and respected in musical composition and direction. He is a 2018 Grammy Award Winner and recipient of multiple notable accolades including 2 Grammy nominations and an ASCAP award for his contribution as a songwriter for the hit "Finding My Way Back" performed by R&B recording artist Jaheim. He has co-written for the likes of Eminem, Lenny Kravitz, Miguel, and Jamie Foxx and recently with hip hop pioneer Dr. Dr in which Curt received another Grammy nomination for his work on the critically acclaimed album "Compton." Curt has been putting down his roots in country music for the past two years, recently signed to WME.
Debbii Dawson is an American singer-songwriter and producer who blends pop, folk, country and other musical styles. In 2022, she appeared on America’s Got Talent where her interpretation of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” received national fame. Debbii is currently signed with RCA Records and set to support Orville Peck on select dates of his Stampede North American Tour.
The Dublin Guitar Quartet has dedicated its career with unwavering devotion to performing contemporary music, an aspect that makes the ensemble unique within its genre. With the help of eight and eleven-string guitars, the quartet has created an original catalog of arrangements by composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Arvo Part, and Gyorgy Ligeti.
The DGQ's work has brought to the attention of some of the world's leading composers. Recent activity includes a release on Philip Glass's Orange Mountain Music label and a new commission by New York's Michael Gordon. The quartet performed alongside the Grammy award-winning LA Guitar Quartet, Conspirare, and the Texas Guitar Quartet in a premiere of How Little You Are by Nico Muhly in Austin, Texas in April 2015. The DGQ is also included in a recent recording performing Arvo Part's Summa. The quartet worked with the composer in making the arrangement and received guidance during the recording process. The arrangement is published by the composer's own publisher Universal Edition.
Emily Elbert is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who has mastered a broad range of styles including country, rock, and soul. She has played thousands of solo shows and collaborated with multiple major artists such as Beyoncé, Lorde, Jacob Collier, and Harry Styles. The Texas-raised, California-dwelling musician recently released her sixth independent album, Woven Together, a rhythmic, flowing ode to the intersections of sensuality, healing and progress. Upon its release, PopMatters remarked, “though it would be safe to call her a spiritual successor to Joni Mitchell, Elbert is truly a chameleonic composer…this is Emily Elbert, a name to bookmark.”
“The birth of a sparkling new star in the concert sky.” These were the words which the German press used to describe the ensemble’s debut concert in Dresden in the spring of 2012. The meeting between two global stars of the classical guitar and two of the most outstanding protagonists of the acoustic guitar scene was accompanied by enthusiastic appreciation from both critics and audience alike. It was therefore no surprise that their debut was followed by invitations to festivals around the world, which include major festivals in Scandinavia and Germany (Bergen Music Festival, MDR Musiksommer) as well as other prestigious events in Austria, Switzerland, India, and South America. Fellow musicians such as Klezmer legend Giora Feidman have also been quick to voice their admiration for their music.
“DANZA” would be a fitting title for the quartet’s current program, as it combines the intense, virtuoso, spirited music of South America and Europe to take listeners on a thrilling musical journey. Unique interpretations of pieces by Astor Piazzolla and the dances of the Paraguayan guitar legend Agustín Barrios mingle with the melodious compositions of the masterly Nicolo Paganini and the complex rhythms of Balkan dances (Dusan Bogdanovic). Works by Thomas Fellow and Reentko also feature, and present concert music, world music, and jazz in a contemporary embrace.
These four musicians – each of them a renowned performer in their own right – have set themselves the task of blending the instrument’s concert tradition with the expressive, dynamic sounds of modern music.
Raphaël Feuillâtre is a young Paris-based virtuoso of the classical guitar. Born in 1996, he started classical guitar lessons at the age of nine, first with Hacène Addadi at Cholet Conservatory and later with Michel Grizard in Nantes. In 2014, he was accepted to Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance (CNSMDP) into the class of Roland Dyens and his assistant Jean-Marc Zvellenreuther and obtained his Bachelor of Performing Arts degree in 2017 with the highest honors. He is currently working on his Master’s Degree in Classical Guitar Performance with Tristan Manoukian. Various internships and training courses contribute to his musical development, in particular those with Arnaud Sans, Gabriel Bianco, and Judicaël Perroy, with whom he has been working regularly for the past three years. Raphaël Feuillâtre likes to enrich his repertoire by arranging the works of J.S. Bach, D. Scarlatti, and E. Granados, namely Poetic waltzes, for the classical guitar
In 2017, he won the 1st prize in the International Guitar Competition Jose Tomas – Villa Petrer in Spain, and the 3rd prize in Kutna Hora International Biennial Guitar Competition in the Czech Republic. He is also a laureate of International Guitar competitions in Viseu, Portugal (3rd prize), Coria, Spain (2nd prize), and Fontenay-sous-Bois, France (1st prize).
Zach Filkins is an American guitarist for the pop-rock band OneRepublic. A significant part of Filkins' childhood was spent intensely studying classical guitar in Barcelona, Spain. Filkins attended Colorado Springs Christian High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he played for the school soccer team. It was at the high school that he met future bandmate Ryan Tedder during their senior year. During a drive home, Filkins and Tedder were discussing their favorite musicians and decided to form a band. They began performing in a group called This Beautiful Mess with a few of their friends, playing small gigs attended by friends and family. After the end of their senior year, Tedder and Filkins parted ways, each attending different colleges.
Filkins plays guitar and sings background vocals for OneRepublic, and he also aids friend and cofounder, Ryan Tedder, in writing and composing music for the band. Filkins shares writing and composing credits on the songs "All Fall Down," "Prodigal," "Say (All I Need)," "Sleep," "Something's Not Right Here," "Stop and Stare," "Tyrant," and "Won't Stop."
Thibaut Garcia, the Franco-Spanish guitarist, was born in 1994 in Toulouse, where he began learning the guitar at the age of seven. He then won the guitar prize in the class of Paul Ferret. At the age of 16, he was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, in Olivier Chassain’s class, while at the same time benefiting from the guidance of Judicaël Perroy. In 2015, he was named sponsee of the Académie Charles Cros.
At the age of 16, he was awarded the First Prize at the Ana Amalia competition in Weimar, Germany. Since then, he has won the first prize in several international competitions, in particular the Guitar Foundation of America at Oklahoma City, USA, in 2015, the José Tomas at Petrer, Spain, in 2014, and the International Competition of Seville, Spain, in 2013. Since then he has been asked to sit on their juries and to give master-classes.
A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Grisha Goryachev is renowned for his extraordinary musical sensitivity and technical virtuosity in both classical and flamenco styles. Grisha is one of very few guitarists in the world who is reviving the tradition of solo flamenco guitar in a concert setting that was practiced by legendary flamenco masters such as Ramón Montoya and Sabicas.
Since coming to the United States, Mr. Goryachev has continued his lifelong love affair with flamenco while deepening his involvement with the classical style. His repertoire now includes classical solos, chamber music and guitar concertos and more than six hours of flamenco solos by such composers as Paco de Lucía, Vicente Amigo, Manolo Sanlucar, Rafael Riqueni, and others. As the flamenco repertoire is for the most part unpublished, Mr. Goryachev has performed the somewhat incredible feat of transcribing entirely by ear from the recordings.
Grisha strives to keep alive older flamenco masterpieces that now exist only on records, by performing them in concerts. Grisha exposes the audience to some of the best guitar compositions flamenco has to offer. Instead of merely copying, he creates his own interpretations of these masterpieces, using dynamics and tone colors usually associated with classical music.
Alex de Grassi has been a unique voice in the world of acoustic guitar for the past 42 years; his innovative approach to composing and arranging for solo steel-string guitar has influenced a generation of younger players. From his first solo performances in university coffeehouses and as a street musician to his engagements at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Montreux Jazz Festival, Alex has followed his own vision and helped lay the foundation for contemporary fingerstyle guitar. Inspired by American and British Isles folk and blues artists in his early teens, Alex’s musical pursuits soon expanded to encompass classical, jazz, and world music. He has since become known for his evocative compositions and arrangements, and for his sheer virtuosity. Using a broad palette of techniques and timbre in conjunction with his ability to weave together melody, counter-melody, bass, harmony, and rhythm into a highly orchestrated canvas of sound, Alex’s performances take the listener well beyond the instrument. The Wall Street Journal has called his playing “flawless” and Billboard hails his “intricate finger-picking technique with an uncanny gift for melodic invention.”
Douglas Lora is a Grammy-nominated guitarist and composer who transits versatility through the universes of classical and popular music. Douglas is the newest member of the L.A. Guitar Quartet, a 20+ year member of the awarded Brasil Guitar Duo (winner of the prestigious Concert Artist Guild Competition), and has performed extensively at the most important theaters and concert halls in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. You can read more about his many career accomplishments at the Brasil Guitar Duo’s website below!
https://www.brasilguitarduo.com/bio
Hailed by the critics as “The guitar guru” (E-Veritas. University of Miami) “the powerful and intense style of Iliana Matos" (Classical Guitar Magazine) has made possible an extraordinary career. Following the tradition of María Luisa Anido, the Great Lady of Guitar, who, when hearing Iliana play, wrote: “I am impressed by your wonderful guitaristic art, and I am proud to know that a woman (and a Cuban woman!) came to such a degree of artistic perfection” (Barcelona 1995).
She regularly gives master classes all over the world and has performed at numerous festivals such as Cordoba Guitar Festival, Spanish Music Festival of León, International Festival of Contemporary Spanish Music, Miguel Llobet Guitar Festival, Antonio Lauro Guitar Festival, Monterrey Guitar Festival, Belo Horizonte Guitar Festival, Chicago Latino Music Festival, New Orleans International Guitar Festival, Lone Star Guitar Festival, Hamilton Guitar Festival, Sauble Beach Guitar Festival, Shenyang International Guitar Festival, Women of the Guitar, among others.
She’s one of Los Angeles’s most sought-after musicians, recording and touring with artists such as Jason Mraz, Black Eyed Peas, Donna Missal, and Morgxn, at venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall, Coachella, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. In her feature in the renowned magazine Guitar, Michael James Adam notes, “she slings the guitar like a wordsmith, wry and sarcastic with a playful slant and flows from hushed whisper to bursts of elation with aplomb.”
Miller is featured on Jason Mraz’s 2018 album Know and his 2020 record Look for the Good. She is in the house-band on The Bachelor’s newest ABC primetime show Listen To Your Heart. Soon after earning her DMA from the University of Southern California in 2016, Miller became the chair of the Guitar Department at Los Angeles College of Music, a position she still holds. When Miller’s not on tour, running a guitar department, or in the studio, she leads the Molly Miller Trio showcased on NPR’s Fresh Air. The second album by Molly Miller Trio St. George was released in 2020.
Emmy-winner Carlos Rafael Rivera is the composer of the music for the Netflix series’ The Queen’s Gambit and Godless. A protégé of Randy Newman, he earned a DMA in Composition at USC’s Thornton School, where he studied with Donald Crockett and Stephen Hartke. As a guitarist, he has performed onstage as opening act for The Who at the Hollywood Bowl; recorded studio sessions for Island/Def Jam, and Universal Records; and had songs featured on Netflix’s Firefly Lane, ABC’s Scrubs, MTV, and VH-1.
His music has been acclaimed by the Miami Herald, the San Francisco Examiner, and the LA Times, helping establish him as a composer with the unique ability to incorporate a large diversity of musical influences into his captivating compositions, which reflect his multi-cultural upbringing in Central America and the United States.
Helen Sanderson epitomises life as a 21st-century guitarist; her diversity as a performer, educator, arranger, composer and creative entrepreneur is reflected in the broad spectrum of guitar studies at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she is the Head of Guitar Performance.
Helen’s international performing career has centred on chamber music with highlight performances including the Southbank Centre, Kings Place and the Guitar Foundation of America, and CD recordings with the VIDA Guitar Quartet, James Bowman and Mark Wilde. Alongside her love of performing, her impetus to create opportunities for young guitarists led to her founding the music education charity Guitar Circus, home of the National Youth Guitar Ensemble and the World Youth Guitar Festival of which she is Artistic Director.
These roles have given invaluable experience in arts management and have also fuelled Helen’s interest in extending the repertoire for the instrument, in particular for guitar ensemble. Helen’s work is regularly chosen for the ABRSM and Trinity College exam boards and developing this vital craft of arranging and composing has a prominent place in the RWCMD programme. She is often invited to competition juries including BBC Young Musician of the Year, Guitar Foundation of America, London International Guitar Competition, Koblenz Guitar Competition and most memorably, the Sky Arts televised series Guitar Star.
Helen has formed a voice and guitar duo with Mark Wilde of the Royal Academy of Music (2014-2020), and a guitar duo with Zoran Dukić of the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague. She has toured extensively giving notable performances across the US in 2014, and in Europe in 2019, from the Long Island Guitar Festival (USA) to the Kutná Hora Guitar Festival (Czech Republic).
Helen was a consultant for the Trinity College of Music Examination Board in 2019, and for the London College of Music Examination Board in 2020. She received the Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2015 and was a panellist for the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2015, 2018, and 2019.
Helen has served on the jury for guitar competitions at the Birmingham Conservatoire (2014), and the Royal College of Music (2015), and also for the Koblenz International Guitar Competition (2016), the London International Guitar Competition (2016), the Ida Presti Guitar Competition in Croatia (2018, 2020), and the Guitar Foundation of America (2017, 2019).
Helen’s passion for research has grown since becoming a Winston Churchill Fellow. Her analysis of successful whole-class guitar teaching programmes in the USA has allowed her to lay the foundation for an ensemble-based guitar curriculum in the UK. She is exploring the ways in which her studies of guitar curriculum might play a role in an integrated cross-discipline approach within the wider Expressive Arts, which reflects the new Curriculum for Wales.
Raphaella Smits is a classical guitarist, teacher, and recording artist world renowned as a talent of extraordinary dimension. Raphaella plays in her unique way on eight-string guitars. Her tours have taken her to over 30 countries and some of the most important musical centres in the world. More recently she has also developed a passion for early instruments to achieve authenticity. Learn more about Raphaella’s incredible career and impact at her website below!
Since he won first prize at the Radio France International Competition in Paris in 1982, he has become one of the most widely celebrated soloists of his generation. Among the members of the jury were such artists as Alexandre Tansman, Antonio Lauro, and Maria Luisa Anido.
Before that, he studied with such guitarists as Milan Zelenka and Štěpán Rak in Prague. In 1987, he decided to emigrate to the Netherlands, where after years of studying and getting inspiration from many different artists, he has created his own style which is not ignoring the authentic way of interpreting 19th-century guitar literature on periodic instruments and going far to some world music elements. Pavel Steidl also composes himself and his own compositions are often played at his concerts. He played in more than 40 countries of the world from Canada, the USA, China, India, Japan, Europe, South and Central America, and many others.
In his teaching, Pavel's approach is encouraging but subtle. For, as he says, "the teacher is not allowed to say everything. I let them play one piece. Each note twice, one staccato, one tenuto, to show what you can do. The possibilities: that's what I like very much. I don't like to write piano, forte, tenuto. I don't like metronomes."
VIDAʼs ability to “conjure up an orchestral palette of colour and effects” (Classic FM) combined with their “exquisite tonal and dynamic control” has firmly established them as a passionate and masterful ensemble who sparkle with “vitality and spontaneity” (Acoustic). VIDAʼs seemingly effortless sense of ensemble and their broad range of timbres and dynamics evokes “listening to an entire orchestra and not merely to four guitars. Thereʼs only one word for it: magic” (Gramophone).
Since forming in 2007, VIDA has performed to critical acclaim in major UK, USA and European venues. They are sought-after festival artists throughout the UK and Europe and in 2011 VIDA made their US debuts in Los Angeles (LMU Guitar Festival) and New York (Baruch Performing Arts Centre). In 2012 VIDA were artists in residence at CSU’s Summer Arts program in Monteray Bay CA.
Following on from their acclaimed debut CD, ʻLove, the Magicianʼ (BGS118) VIDA released their latest CD, ʻRhapsodyʼ in 2013 featuring works by George Gershwin, Malcolm Arnold, and Adam Gorb. VIDA are D’Addario string classical artists.
Over the last twenty years, Assad has concentrated most of his efforts on building a repertoire for the guitar duo. He has extended the possibilities of the two-guitar combination through his arrangements of Latin American music by composers such as Piazzolla, Villa Lobos, and Ginastera as well as Baroque to Modern music by Scarlatti, Rameau, Soler, Bach, Mompou, Ravel, Debussy, and Gershwin among others. He has completed over 300 arrangements for different chamber music settings, arrangements for Gidon Kremer, Dawn Upshaw, Yo Yo Ma, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, TrioConBrio, Iwao Furusawa, Paquito D’Rivera, Turtle Island String Quartet, L.A. Quartet, Luciana Souza, and Vancouver Cantata Singers.
As a composer, Assad has completed more than fifty works for guitar, many of which have become standards in the guitar repertoire. His "Aquarelle" for solo guitar was chosen as the required contemporary work for the 2002 Guitar Foundation of America Competition in Miami. In 2007, he wrote the set piece for the 2008 Guitar Foundation of America Competition named "Valsa de Outono." Assad’s orchestral compositions include the ballet "Scarecrow," the concerto "Mikis" for guitar and strings, "Fantasia Carioca" for two guitars which he and Odair premiered with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1998, "Interchange," a concerto for guitar quartet and orchestra premiered by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet with the San Antonio Symphony in 2009, the concerto "Originis" for violin, guitar duo, and orchestra recorded live with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, and the concerto "Phases" for guitar duo and orchestra premiered in 2011 by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra with the Assad Brothers as soloists.
French guitar phenomenon Thomas Viloteau enjoys shaking things up. His approach to the instrument, its repertoire and its technique, has reshaped the term ‘classical’ guitar, into something new, alive and forward thinking.
At 25 he published a technique book ‘In the Black Box, Technique(s) of the Classical Guitar’ which has sold more than a thousand copies on his website alone. At 27 he decided to go back to school to complete both a Master’s and Doctoral degree. He is one of the very few players to have won both the Guitar Foundation of America and the Francisco Tàrrega competitions. In 2013 he won the Northern Trust/Piper Enrichment Award; which allowed him to commission the Suite Brasileira 3 from composer Sergio Assad. Viloteau is the only guitarist to ever win the Arthur Foote Award from the Harvard Musical Association in 2016. He has also been the Artist in Residence at the show Performance Today in 2017, broadcasting his playing to more than a million people across the USA. As an avid world traveller, Thomas Viloteau has lived in Barcelona, Paris, San Francisco, New York City, London, Tucson, Montreal and Rochester, NY. In 2019 he will join the guitar faculty at the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
