Andrew York: Sunburst

Classical Guitarist: Agustín Barrios

Agustín Barrios was a Paraguayan guitarist and composer. Barrios born May 5, 1885 in San Juan Bautista de las Misiones, Paraguay. He began to show an interest in musical instruments, particularly the guitar, before he reached his teens. At the age of 13, he went to Asunción in 1901, to attend a university with a scholarship in music. After leaving college, Barrios dedicated his life to music and writing poems. He composed more than 300 songs for which he would first write the lyrics and then the guitar accompaniment. Barrios made several friends during his multiple trips across South America. He was known for giving his friends and fans signed copies of his poems. Barrios died and was buried in the Cementerio de Los Ilustres in San Salvador, El Salvador on August 7, 1944.

Interesting Facts:

- He was one of the youngest university students in Paraguayan history.

- Apart from his studies in the college's music department, Barrios was also well appreciated by members of the college's mathematics, journalism and literature departments.

- Barrios was the first guitar player in recording a disc.

Source: Wikipedia

Classical Guitarist: Matteo Carcassi

Matteo Carcassi was a famous Italian guitarist and composer. He was born in 1792 in Florence, Italy. Carcassi began with the piano, but learned guitar when still a child. He quickly gained a reputation as a virtuoso concert guitarist. He moved to Germany in 1810, gaining almost immediate success. In 1815, he was living in Paris, earning his living as a teacher of both the piano and the guitar. From 1820 on, Carcassi spent the majority of his time in Paris. In 1822, he performed an extremely successful series of concerts in London that earned him great fame, both as a performing artist and as a teacher. Carcassi was in Germany again during the fall of 1824. Afterwards he performed in London, where his reputation now gave him access to more prestigious concert halls. Finally he returned to Paris. For several years, he made concert trips from here to the most important cultural towns of Europe, including London. After a short return to performing in 1836, he quit his concert practice around 1840 and died in Paris in 1853.

Interesting Facts:

- His music is still played by so many classical guitarists today.

- His works have been published and recorded by numerous well known guitarists.

- He also wrote several brilliant transcriptions of popular opera arias.

Source: Wikipedia

Classical Guitarist: Fernando Sor

Fernando Sor was a Spanish guitarist and composer. He was born in 1778 in Barcelona to a fairly well-off family. Sor was descended from a long line of career soldiers, and intended to continue that legacy, but was distracted from this when his father introduced him to Italian opera. He fell in love with music and abandoned a military career. Along with opera, Sor's father also introduced him to the guitar, which, at the time, was little more than an instrument played in taverns, thought to be inferior to orchestral instruments. In 1808, when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain, Sor began to write nationalistic music for the guitar, often accompanied by patriotic lyrics. After the defeat of the Spanish army, Sor accepted an administrative post in the occupying government. After the Spanish repelled the French in 1813, Sor left Spain for fear of retribution. He went to Paris, and never returned to his home country again. He began to gain renown in the Parisian art community for his skills of composition and for his ability at playing the guitar, and eventually began to tour across Europe, gaining considerable fame. In 1827, due partly to his advancing age, he settled down and decided to live out the rest of his life in Paris. His last work was a mass in honor of his daughter, who died in 1837. Her death sent the already sickly Sor into serious depression, and he died a miserable man in 1839 of tongue and throat cancer.

Interesting Facts:

- In Spain he is sometimes known as the "Beethoven of the Guitar".

- Sor's Method for the Spanish Guitar was first published in French under the name Méthode pour la Guitare (1830) and then translated in English under the name “Method for the Spanish Guitar” in 1832.

- It was during this retirement that he composed many of his better works.

Source: Wikipedia

Classical Guitarist: Francisco Tárrega

Francisco Tárrega was an influential Spanish composer and guitarist. Tárrega is considered to have laid the foundations for 20th century classical guitar and for increasing interest in the guitar as a recital instrument. The great Andrés Segovia used much of Tárrega's work on technique and many of his compositions to take the classical guitar into concert halls of Europe. His most famous composition is "Recuerdos de la Alhambra". Tárrega was born on November 21, 1852, in Villarreal, Castellón, Spain. His father worked as an usher and his mother died when Francisco was very young. Francisco fell into an irrigation channel in his early childhood, permanently impairing his eyesight. Partially due to this accident, the family moved to Castellón and enrolled him in music classes. Tárrega entered the Madrid Conservatory in 1874. By the end of the 1870s, Tárrega was teaching the guitar and giving regular concerts. Tárrega received much acclaim for his playing and began traveling to other areas of Spain to perform. He died in Barcelona on December 15, 1909 at the age of 57.

Interesting Facts:

- Both his first music teachers, Eugeni Ruiz and Manuel Gonzalez, were blind.

- Francisco Tárrega was only ten years old, he ran away and tried to start a musical career on his own along coffee houses and restaurants in Barcelona.

- In January 1906, he was afflicted with paralysis on his right side, and though he would eventually return to the concert stage, he never completely recovered.

Source: Wikipedia

Classical Guitarist: Andrew York

Andrew York is an American classical guitarist and composer. He became particularly famous after John Williams recorded his compositions, "Lullaby" and "Sunburst". He was a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet from 1990 to 2006. Andrew York was born in 1958 and grew up in Woodbridge, Virginia. He studied the guitar at James Madison University where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree in classical guitar performance. He went on to complete his Master of Music degree in studio guitar at the University of Southern California in 1986.

Interesting Facts:

- Although he is best known as a classical guitarist, he is also an accomplished jazz guitarist.

- While studying at the University of Southern California he was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Jack Marshall Memorial Scholarship, the Manilow Scholarship and the Del Amo Foundation Grant for Study in Spain.

- In 2006, York left the LAGQ to pursue personal artistic creativity and posted an open letter on the quartet's site.

Source: Wikipedia

Official Website

Classical Guitarist: Julian Bream

Julian Bream was one of the most popular guitarists emerging from the post-war era. In addition to being a classical guitarist, he was also a lutenist. Julian Bream was born in London on July 15, 1933. His father was a jazz guitarist and inspired Bream to play the guitar. On his 11th birthday, his father gave him a classical guitar. His father gained an interest in classical guitar and hired a teacher to teach them both. Within a year, they were playing duets together. Julian Bream studied at the Royal College of Music in piano and cello because there wasn't a guitar program during that time. He made his debut guitar recital at Cheltenham in 1947, aged 13. In 1951 he made his debut in the Wigmore Hall in London. After national service, he resumed a busy career, playing around the world, including annual tours in the U.S. and Europe for several years.

Interesting Facts:

- In 1984 Bream’s arm was seriously injured in a car accident. It cost him great effort to regain his previous technical ability.

- Julian Bream had three records of guitar duets with John Williams.

- He enjoys a reputation as a down-to-earth Londoner who likes nothing more than a pint of beer in his local pub.

Source: Wikipedia