Since the 1980s, Bireli Lagrene has been the undisputed king of jazz guitar worldwide.
In the early 80's, Bireli was a child prodigy, a “wunderkind,” who developed his craft into an art. His story begins in 1966 in Saverne, France in the Alsace region - the heart of the gypsy community. Bireli was born into a family of musicians where he was introduced to the guitar at an early age by his father, then by his brother. Bireli was first spotted by Matelot Ferré, Django Reinhardt's companion.

During those early years Bireli was heavily influenced by Django. He was inspired by the master's choruses, listening to his records over and over again, trying at first to remake what he heard before finding his own style. We hear this unique style in Bireli’s first albums: "Routes to Django", released in 1980, "Bireli Swing '81" (1981) and then "Fifteen" (1982). A sort of trilogy in the form of a "free manifesto", according to the etymology of the word "manouche" ("free man"). So, music and particularly jazz, for Bireli, is mixed with a primordial freedom, "a freedom that has no limits..." "Django helped me to go and see what is happening elsewhere," he says.

Bireli was influenced not only by Django, but also Wes Montgomery and George Benson and soon turned to the fusion of Jaco Pastorius and Weather Report.
From 1986 onwards Bireli, who had collaborations with Stéphane Grappelli and Larry Coryell, embarked on the adventure of fusion, deepening his experience and encounters. Bireli even hesitated for a while about which instrument to adopt (under the influence of Pastorius, Bireli had become a formidable bassist). He finally settled on the guitar for a period of research where he forged a dazzling style, showing exceptional faculties of adaptation supported by a talent of improvisation, placing him among the greatest. Multiple collaborations ensue. Bireli finds himself alongside John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia, Al Di Meola, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker (for a temporary reformation of Cream), Stanley Clarke, Miroslav Vitous, Lenny White, and Mike Stern. This impressive list doesn't even include the two live albums that Bireli recorded with Jaco Pastorius.

In 1990, the album "Acoustic Moments” is a beautiful synthesis of style. Walking the tightrope between traditional jazz and fusion. Then, Bireli finds the sweet spot as well as critical acclaim by playing the "classic" card with "Standards" (1992).

As Bireli’s "Viaggio" (1993) hit the streets, it coincides with his ever-increasing recognition on the national and international scenes. Bireli wins the coveted “Django d'Or” (The Golden Django) in 1993, and in 2001 “Victoires de la Musique” (the equivalent of a Grammy in the US and awarded by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry) for "Front Page" (2000). A "power trio" formed with Dominique Di Piazza and Dennis Chambers who recorded for Universal, crowning the success and popularity of the "Gipsy Project" (2001).

At 35 years old, after having played on almost every front of the modern guitar, after having interacted with some of the finest jazz musicians worldwide, Bireli Lagrene, wild and subtle, quick as a flash, decided to take up with the music of his origins by risking an incredible bet between virtuosity and depth. "Gipsy Project & Friends" (2002), happily celebrates with unaffected spontaneity while anchoring himself in a tradition that Bireli, at the top of his art, has at his fingertips.
Still in the tradition of gypsy jazz, Bireli released the album "Move" in 2004, which has the peculiarity of replacing the violin with a saxophone. Striking repertoire. Dazzling swing. The album is masterful. As success grew, Bireli toured the biggest festivals with his Gipsy Project until his triumph at the Olympia in 2005. This recording also featured the special guest guitar of Sylvain Luc.

In October 2006, to celebrate the 40th birthday of this outstanding musician, Dreyfus Jazz publishes an exceptional double CD: “Djangology” (with the Köln WDR Big Band) and “To Bi or Not To Bi” (solo recording).

These last 17 years – crowned by a 2012 “Medal of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” (recognition of significant contributions to the arts) - will see Bireli release thirteen albums including "The Alternative," alongside Jimmy Rosenberg and Angelo Debarre, with Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty for an inspired "D-Stringz", with Rony Lakatos on the magnificent "Tribute to Stéphane & Django," with André Charlier and Benoît Sourisse on "Remembering Jaco" and solo on the superb "Solo Suites" released in 2022.

In 2023, Bireli Lagrene released in trio with Hono Winterstein (rhythm guitar) and Diego Imbert (double bass) a side project "Bireli Lagrene plays Loulou Gasté", a superb songbook dedicated to the repertoire of one of the most important authors of the golden age of French song, Louis Gasté.

Bireli continues with his music today, not style defined, but rather honoring his roots.

Born in London, England, Nigel North has been playing the lute for over 50 years, since the age of 15. Teaching and playing have gone hand in hand and he has been Professor of Lute at the Historical Performance Institute (formerly Early Music Institute), Indiana University, Bloomington (USA) 1999 -2024. Spring 2024 is his last semester. From July 2024 will live back in Europe, in Gent, Belgium.

Previous positions include The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London (1976–1996), Hochschule der Künste, Berlin (1993– 1999) and the Royal Conservatory, Den Haag, (2006–2009). 

Initially inspired at the age of seven by the early 60’s instrumental pop group The Shadows, Nigel North studied classical music through the violin and guitar and eventually discovered his real path in life, the lute. Nigel is basically self-taught on the lute and was inspired by Michael Schäffer, Gustav Leonhardt and the Jazz duo, Tuck and Patti. The music of Bach has always been his first love in music, especially after a dream at age 12 in which Bach handed him a lute. 

After hearing one of Nigel’s Bach recitals in London, Julian Bream recalled in 2002  “I remember going to a remarkable recital, one which I wish I had the ability to give: it was one of Nigel North’s Bach recitals, and I was bowled over by how masterful and how musical it was. A real musical experience, something you don’t always get from guitar and lute players and which, in general, is pretty rare.”

Nigel North wrote Continuo playing on the Lute, Archlute and Theorbo (Faber, 1986 and Indiana University Press). More recently in 2024, Le Luth Dore (Paris) published Bach on the Lute, volumes 1 and 2. Transcriptions for baroque lute of BWV 1001-1006, 1007-1012 and the complete works for lute, BWV 999- 1006a.

Recordings include a four CD boxed set Bach on the Lute (Linn Records), four CDs of the lute music of John Dowland (Naxos), four CDs of music by Sylvius Weiss (BGS) and 2 CDs of music by Francesco da Milano (BGS). Most recently for “Deux-Elles”  a double CD of Bach’s Complete works for lute and other new transcriptions (April 2023). 

At the age of eight, Aniello Desiderio performed in public for the first time, displaying such outstanding gifts that music critics started to speak of him as an “enfant prodigy”, “Wunderkind”, “a genius”, “the Orpheus of the guitar”, “a guitarist of the century”, and “il Fenomeno”.

He quickly established himself as a concert artist with a distinct voice when he won 18 first place International Awards in both national and international competitions. Notable among them are 1st Prize and Special Prize for the best interpretation of South American music at the International Guitar Competition in Havana, Cuba (1988); “Neapolitan of the Year” Award in Italy (1988); 1st Prize and Special Prize of the best interpretation of Tárrega’s music at the International Francisco Tárrega Competition, Benicásim, Spain (1992), and 1st Prize at the International “Guerrero” Competition, Madrid, Spain (1994).

He performs regularly as a recitalist in North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa, in the most important theatres of the world including Carnegie Hall, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Palau de La Musica, Mozarteum, Munich Philharmonie, Koelner Philharmonie, Alte Oper, Tonhalle, Teatro delle Palme, Radio France, Die Glocke, Istanbul Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonie, Opera House Wien, and Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

He received the “Artist in Residence Award 1999” from the German Radio DLF at Musikfest Bremen together with Gidon Kremer. The same year, the German Television BR/TV produced a music documentary and portrait of Mr. Desiderio in Naples which was broadcast throughout Europe.

An avid chamber music with multiple ongoing projects for decades, his guitar duo project with renowned soloist Zoran Dukic, often dubbed as “From A to Z” Duo in the USA, has been a favourite of numerous European festivals since early 1990s and frequently reinvited to perform at major international venues including Palau de la Musica in Barcelona Spain.

Together with his brothers Gennaro and Gaetano Desiderio, and other famous Neapolitan musicians, he founded the group Passione Napoletana, performing the highly emotional music of his home town Naples: “Serenate, Tanghi, Danze, Canzoni e Tarantelle Napoletane.”

In fall of 2009, he created his latest recording project: “Quartetto Furioso” with violinist Gennaro Desiderio, pianist Gaetano Desiderio and percussionist Salvatore Minale playing a program consisting of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” and Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” and realized the production of a CD of this project for the famous German label Termidor, which includes singer Sabine Mayer and GrammyⓇ Awards winner Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinettist and composer Paquito D’ Rivera.

He was the co-founder together with Jurgen Nimbler of "World Guitar Ensemble" which featured a roster of internationally acclaimed and sought after classical guitarists including Zoran Dukić, David Tanenbaum, Thomas Müller-Pering, Costas Cotsiolis, Gyan Riley, Olaf Van Gonnissen, Laura Young, Peppino D'Agostino, Duo Kaltchev, and Pablo Marquez.

He has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Frame, Waku Music, Koch-Universal, Adoro Records, Brilliant Classic, Accelerando Music Production, and since 2018 he is recording for GuitarCoop label.

A champion of new music and often referred to as the musician of musicians, he has inspired renowned guitarist John McLaughlin to choose him for the European premier of his Concerto “Thieves and Poets”. Other composers who have written new works for him include Roland Dyens, Stephen Goss, Dale Kavanagh, Carlo Domeniconi, Simone Iannarelli, the late Angelo Gilardino and Georg Schmitz (director of Koblenz Festival and Honorary Professor at Mainz University, Germany).

In high demand as a teacher, he was the concert artist and professor in residence from 2004 to 2012 at the International Guitar Academy in Koblenz (Germany) and from 2012 the guitar professor at the University of music at S. Giacomantonio of Cosenza and Gesualdo da Venosa of Potenza in Italy. For two years in a row, he was invited to give master classes at Internationale Sommer Akademie Universität Mozarteum (Salzburg, Austria).

His students are today’s brightest and most promising emerging concert artists of the new generation all around the world as well as often winners of the most prestigious guitar competitions in the world.

He is currently the professor of guitar at University of Music at Domenico Cimarosa of Avellino (Italy). He is the worldwide Artist Ambassador for D’Addario Strings.

„Here was a guitarist who knew how to laugh with the music and share the joke with his audience. But behind the entertainer lies a serious artist, whose extended composition in memory of Jana Obrovská proved fully capable of stirring emotions at the other end of the scale. Never was a standing ovation more richly deserved. Pavel Steidl had won the hearts and minds of a capacity crowd.“
(Classical guitar magazine)

Pavel Steidl was born in Rakovník, Czech Republic. Since winning first prize at the Radio France International Competition in Paris in 1982, he has become one of the most celebrated soloists of his generation. The jury included renowned artists such as Alexander Tansman, Antonio Lauro, and Maria Luisa Anido. Before that, he studied with guitarists like Milan Zelenka and Stephan Rak in Prague. In 1987, he decided to emigrate to the Netherlands, where, after years of study and drawing inspiration from many different artists, he developed his own style. This style respects the authentic interpretation of 19th-century guitar literature on period instruments while also incorporating elements of world music. Since 2004, he has returned to the Czech Republic, and since 2019, he has been giving lectures at the Conservatoire in The Hague.

He has had the honor of working with artists such as Leo Brouwer, Carlo Domeniconi, Paolo Paolini, John Williams, Miroslav Vitouš, Karin Schaupp, Edin Karamazov, and others. Since 2012, he has been a member of the European Guitar Quartet, along with Zoran Dukić, Reentko Dirks, and Thomas Fellow.

Pavel Steidl also composes, and his compositions are often performed at his concerts and recordings. He has played in more than 40 countries, including Canada, the USA, China, India, Japan, Europe, South and Central America, and Australia. In a poll conducted by the Italian Guitar Magazine Guitart, readers chose him as Guitar Player of the Year in 2004. Pavel Steidl plays many instruments, but mainly Francisco Simplicio (1926), Walter Verreydt, Franz Butcher, and Federico Sheppard. He also plays romantic guitars: copies of J. G. Stauffer guitars made by B. Kresse, and original instruments from the early 19th century by Nikolaus G. Ries (c. 1830) and Johann Anton Stauffer (c. 1840).

Zoran Dukić (1969, Zagreb) was presented with a guitar at the early age of six. Today he is one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of our time. His concert performances, both as a soloist or with an orchestra, leave long-lasting impressions on audiences and critics alike.

He graduated from the Music Academy of Zagreb with Darko Petrinjak and completed his studies with Hubert Käppel at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne.

In his “tour de force” competition years (1990-1997) Zoran Dukić has won an astonishing number of competitions, more than any other guitarist in the world. He is the only guitarist to have won both “Andrés Segovia” competitions, in Granada and in Palma de Mallorca. Showing astounding mastery in a wide variety of musical periods and styles he has also won competitions dedicated to „Fernando Sor“, „Manuel Ponce“, „Manuel de Falla“, and „Francisco Tárrega“ among others. In the greatest Spanish guitar competition in Madrid, patronized by the Royal Family, he was awarded, in addition to the first prize, the special prize for the best interpretation of Spanish music (first time awarded to a non-Spaniard). In numerous competitions he was selected by the audience itself for the prize of the public, a self-evident testimony to his natural ability to communicate through music.

His performances throughout the 5 continents have inspired numerous composers to dedicate their works to him. His premiers of new music are strengthened by his admiration of contemporary musical expression. His programs include works by Takemitsu, Henze, Reily, Carter or Gubaidulina among many others. He has also toured with entire Bach programs, performing complete cycles of lute, violin or cello suites. Music by J. S. Bach is still the focal point of his musical life.

He also has a special affinity for Spanish and South American musical idiom, the core repertoire of classical guitar. Currently, his carefully balanced programs present a range of music from Bach to Britten, from Sor to Albéniz, from Tárrega to Villa-Lobos and Brouwer.

Being exceptionally enthusiastic and dedicated to teaching, his pedagogical activities are equally impressive. Having taught at the Zagreb Music Academy and Hochschule Für Musik in Aachen, he is currently teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague and at the Escuela Superior de Musica in Barcelona, he has educated generations of young classical guitarists and has one of the most successful classes in Europe. In addition to this, he regularly gives masterclasses all over the world and is often an invited guest to numerous guitar festivals. Zoran Dukić is also a very active chamber music performer and a founding member of the „Trio de Cologne“. He has recorded compact discs for labels in Germany, Spain, Belgium and Canada.

Enrica Savigni, 19th century guitar - Laura Savigni, fortepiano

Composed of two sisters, Duo Savigni has been dedicated to studying 19th-century repertoire on original instruments since 2011. They each started their musical training at a young age and pursued their musical studies as a duo chamber ensemble and solo performers.

Laura graduated in piano from the "Arrigo Boito" Conservatory in Parma; she continued her studies at the "G. Puccini" of Gallarate (VA) under the guidance of Maestro Alberto Miodini. In 2016, she obtained her fortepiano master's degree with honours at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart with Maestra Stefania Neonato. Enrica graduated in classical guitar with high honours at the "Arrigo Boito" Conservatory in Parma under the guidance of Maestro Walter Pezzali. She graduated in 2014 in Clarinet with Maestro Roberto Saltini. Between 2011 and 2014, she specialized in repertoire and performance practice of 19th-century guitar at the "Claudio Abbado Civic School of Music" in Milan under the guidance of the Maccari-Pugliese Duo. In 2021, she obtained a Master in Early Music from the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels.

Duo Savigni specialised as a chamber music ensemble at the Accademia Internazionale di Duino in Trieste under the guidance of Trio di Parma between 2008-2010. Their first CD, "Duo Savigni: Giuliani, Moscheles & Mertz", was released in 2019 under the "Movimento Classical" label. It was published in digital format in the January issue of "Amadeus" Magazine, together with an interview. In 2020, they debuted their second album, "Für Beethoven: Music for Guitar and Fortepiano Inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven", released by MP Editions.

Laura and Enrica perform both as a duo and as soloists throughout Italy, as well as in Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the United Kingdom. They regularly actively participate in conferences and seminars on 19th-century repertoire and historical performance practice. Laura teaches piano and piano history and technology at Conservatorio di Musica "Vecchi-Tonelli" in Modena (Italy).

Enrica is a guitar tutor at Maynooth University (Ireland) and a PhD researcher at the TU Dublin Conservatoire.

www.duosavigni.it

Mother is Bossa, father the Blues
"Simply cool, tasteful, and (!) high-quality music from an exceptional artist who, despite all his skills and chops, never sounds vain or introverted." (Till Brönner)

A guitar, a voice, charisma – that's all it takes to experience a captivating musical performance. A rarely unique mix of grooving bass lines and dynamic strikes on the guitar body, gripping melodies, and inspiring harmonies touches the senses. Kosho makes his love for music audible. A sonic experience for friends of (not only) acoustic guitar music and timeless songs, unpretentious, carefree, and essentially priceless.

The current CD "All Sides Love" explores the theme of love from different perspectives, almost weightless like a colorful butterfly, magically attractive in sound, touching like a passionate kiss.

Michael Koschorreck, alias Kosho, has been playing guitar and singing for 50 years – for himself, his audience, and colleagues such as André Heller, Joo Kraus, Wallis Bird, Mine, Les McCann, Laith Al-Deen, Vladislav Sendecki, Michal Urbaniak, Mathias Grosch, Xavier Naidoo, Wolfgang Haffner, Zelia Fonseca, Edo Zanki, and many more. As a singer/songwriter, he has released three solo albums so far and has been a member of the "Söhne Mannheims," awarded with "Echo" and "Comet," since 1999.

In a duo with Munich concert guitarist Augustin Wiedemann, as Bar Kody with Berlin singer Katja Ohde, and in the Hammond organ trio Cobody, he explores live on stage musical boundaries between Dowland and downbeat.

Kosho gladly shares his rich experiences, also as a permanent lecturer at the Pop Academy Baden-Württemberg, the STELLA Private University in Feldkirch, Austria, the Federal Academy Trossingen, and at workshops at home and abroad.

Campbell is an internationally award winning classical guitarist from Canberra, Australia, and is currently based in Linz, Austria, where he has recently been appointed Guitar Professor at the Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität of Music.

Campbell completed his Bachelor degree (First Class Hons) with Hubert Käppel at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, Germany, and continued his postgraduate studies with Judicaël Perroy at the Haute Ecole de Musique Genève. Prior, he was a student of Timothy Kain and Minh Le Hoang at the ANU School of Music in Canberra, Australia. He began studying the classical guitar at the late age of 17, and now, he is regarded as one of the leading guitarists of his generation.

Campbell has greatly benefited from significant study periods at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena with Oscar Ghiglia and with Carlo Marchione. He has had the privilege of participating in numerous masterclasses with musicians and scholars such as David Russell, Roberto Aussel, Zoran Dukic, Marcin Dylla, Lorenzo Micheli, Ricardo Gallén, Pavel Steidl, Roland Dyens and more.

He has given concerts all around Australia and in Japan, Korea, Germany, Norway, Montenegro, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Croatia, Brazil, Finland, India, Italy, Portugal, France, China, Austria, Serbia, Romania and Greece as a soloist and a chamber musician. He has appeared on several major radio stations including Classic FM UK, ABC Classic FM, WDR 3 (German Classic FM), and many more. He has performed and given masterclasses in many of the worlds most prestigious guitar festivals and music concert series’, including Koblenz International Guitar Festival, Iserlohn International Guitar Festival, Cultura Artistica – Sao Paulo, Berlin International Guitar Festival, Paris International Guitar Festival, GuitarArt Festival, Forum Gitarre Wien and many more.

Campbell is a sponsored D’addario and Guitarlift Artist and plays on a 2015 Antonius Müller Guitar.

He has won over 30 prizes in International competitions.

https://campbelldiamondguitar.com

Daniel Stelter is one of Germany's most sought-after guitarists.

On one hand, he consistently pursues his path as a solo artist and composer, having released five albums under his own name. On the other hand, he serves as a sideman for numerous studio and live productions, collaborating with prominent figures from various genres: Wolfgang Haffner, Lulo Reinhardt, Till Brönner, Annette Louisan, Laith Al-Deen, Seven, Jan Delay, Ringsgwandl, Chris de Burgh, Heavytones, Dein Song (Kika).

The European tour with jazz legend Al Jarreau in 2016 shaped his artistic journey just as much as the duo tours with Lulo Reinhardt through the USA in 2018 and 2019.

As a guitar instructor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt, Daniel Stelter fulfills his great passion for sharing experiences and knowledge with his students.
Stelter's passion for music began early. At the age of eight, he learned classical guitar and was soon influenced by rock and pop music through his older brothers. As a teenager, he spent hours meticulously listening to and playing along with records and tapes. At 17, he became a member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Peter Herbolzheimer. During this time, Stelter toured Southeast Europe for six weeks, experimented with various bands, composed for different ensembles, and recorded his first CD. After graduating from high school, he studied jazz guitar at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, never losing sight of classical guitar.

With Ulf Kleiner (piano), Tommy Baldu (drums), and Michael Pauker (bass), Stelter formed a quartet that produced four albums under his name. Homebrew Songs (2009), Krikelkrakel (2012), Little Planets (2015), and Humming Songs (2017) made the Daniel Stelter Quartet a sought-after live act in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, receiving high praise from the press.

As a solo artist, composer, and bandleader, Daniel Stelter gradually built a name for himself, continuously developing his musical ideas. The sound of the first albums is a successful symbiosis of classical and electric guitar, mixed with a touch of electronic music, underlaid with a soundscape of cool beats and a healthy dose of funk and soul. Every note is purposeful and minimalistic in sound, yet leaving a deep impression. Here, the music speaks for itself. The thoughtful instrumentation and Stelter's melodic and vocal guitar playing take center stage, even though Stelter enjoys being accompanied by great voices, such as Fola Dada.

At the end of 2016, he played a European tour with jazz legend Al Jarreau.

In 2017, he recorded the album "Wolfgang Haffner – Kind of Spain" with Jan Lundgren, Lars Danielsson, Sebastian Studnitzky, and Christopher Dell, and played numerous festivals and concerts with Haffner in trio, quartet, and sextet formations.

In 2018 and 2019, he toured the USA in a duo with Lulo Reinhardt. Reinhardt and Stelter released two albums as a duo: Lulo Reinhardt & Daniel Stelter – Live in der Stadtkirche (2016) and Live@Neidecks (2019).

In 2019, he toured with "Night of the Guitars" through concert halls in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Stelter is also a permanent member of the Ringsgwandl band, with which he regularly tours and records four albums.

From 2014 to 2018 (seasons 1-5), he was a key figure in the TV show "Sing mein Song – Das Tauschkonzert." During this time, he became one of the most sought-after studio guitarists in the country, recording albums for a variety of artists.

In 2019, he organized the first international guitar festival in his hometown of Ingelheim.

He is also a composer, arranger, and producer for radio plays, film, and television productions and has been a guitar instructor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt since 2016. Additionally, he runs his own small studio (Studio-DS) in Ingelheim am Rhein.

Marco Piperno was born in Lecce, Italy. He graduated from school when he was 17 and went on to study guitar with Bruno Battisti D'Amario at the Conservatory Santa Cecilia in Rome. He subsequently studied with N. Di Modugno at the Conservatory Piccinni in Bari, graduating with honors. From 2010 to 2013 he attended master classes at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena with O. Ghiglia. From 2013 he continued studying with P. Pegoraro and A. Del Sal at the Segovia Guitar Academy in Pordenone and in 2017 with G. Bandini at the Istituto Boccherini in Lucca. In 2018 he received his masters with honors at the conservatory A. Boito in Parma.

Marco Piperno has competed in several important international guitar competitions, winning more than thirty prizes, including some first prizes. These competitions included Concurso Ciudad de Linares Andrés Segovia, Kutna Hora, Forum Gitarre Wien, Alexander Frauchi International Guitar Competition in Moscow, Incontri Chitarristici di Gargnano, Elche Guitar Competition, Concurso Internacional Guitarra el Condado and many others. 

He has given concerts throughout Italy and in numerous European countries (Spain, Austria, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, Germany, Slovakia, Croatia, Belgium, Serbia) and also in Thailand and other countries in Asia. He has performed at some of the most prestigious concert halls, (the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Gnessin Concert Hall in Moscow, Trento Philharmonic, Royal Theater of Brussels, Parma House of Music, Primate’s Palace of Bratislava, Theater LAVA of Valladolid etc.).

His performances with orchestra have included the Concert in D by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, accompanied by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the “Orkiestra Historyczna” of Katowice, in Tychy under the direction of Marek Mos and with the orchestra of “Arrigo Conservatory Boito” in Parma.

As well as performing at numerous guitar festivals, Marco Piperno has also served as a jury member, among them Forum Gitarre Wien, “Andrés Segovia” in Linares, Festival de Guitarra Ciudad d’Elx, “Festival Paganini” in Parma and others.

From 2018 to 2020 he was professor of guitar at the conservatory “C. Monteverdi ”in Cremona, and in 2020 at the conservatory “ C. G. da Venosa ” in Potenza. Since 2021 he is professor at the conservatory “N. Rota” in Monopoli.

Italian composer, interpreter, painter and performer, born in 1977, he began his artistic training graduating in classical guitar, owing his musical education to Maestro Stefano Viola and Maestro Paolo Pegoraro. From a very early stage of his career, he showed a strong inclination towards composition. In 2000, following the arise of a neurological disease called focal dystonia he was forced to stop performing. Fortunately, between 2002 and 2003, after 14 months of a motor rehabilitation programme at the “Institute of Physiology and Medicine of Art” in Terrassa (BCN), he fully recovers and to this day he continues to collaborate with this institute.

In the years of inactivity as a concert performer, he begins to study composition as autodidact, which he supports with graphic and pictorial research. Starting from Kandinsky's theories and Klee's writings, he created a phono-chromatic system, based on the relationship between sound and color. From this moment he develops and focuses his artistic activity on Synesthesia, through the creation of multimedia works in which music and color and movement can coexist in harmonic symbiosis.

In 2010, together with painter Max Ciogli, he cofounded the synesthetic synthesis art movement SINE whose main objective is the investigation of the relationship between sound, color and movement. In 2012 they published its artistic manifesto. With the founding of the SINE group, their research also finds application in the therapeutic field. In fact, through the "State Institute for the Deaf" in Rome, the group's artistic experiences have made it possible to create a system that enables deaf people to relate to musical experience.

In 2011 he won the International Competition GRAFIMUSE, for musicians who work in the field of synaesthesia with the creation of a visual work of art that could be “played musically” with the painting: Musica seriale in fa#. Another award follows in 2022, “Premio Valori d’impresa” for the synaesthetic work of Video Art “La tela di penelope”.

His compositions have been published by: Chanterelle Verlag Edition, VP Music Media, Berben, EMEC – Editorial de Musica Española Contemporanea, Sinfonica, Ava Musical Edition, Lineadaria Edizioni.

in memoriam

Guitar Ensemble of the České Budějovice Conservatory

Artistic direction by Klára Ferenczi

Conductors: Klára Ferenczi

Soloists: Ema Mičanová – flute , Matěj Toman – violin , Yelysei Kabanets – cembalo

Ensemble members: Zuzana Brožová, Anna Cábová, Michaela Dvořáková, Ester Havrdová, Michaela Kolková, Klára Kroupová, Josef Kurz, Magdalena Kůzlová, Jan Maule, Stanislava Novotná, Aneta Pilsová, Zuzana Pilsová, Dominik Pokorný, Tereza Rašková, Šimon Schacherl, Marie Sosnová, Arnošt Šafář, Jan Šuster

The guitar ensemble started its activity at the České Budějovice Conservatory under the direction of Vilma Manová and conductor František Lukáš in the school year 2017/2018. In relatively short time, the students have studied unconventional guitar repertoire from the Renaissance to contemporary music and have given numerous concerts.

In 2021, the ensemble performed a concert at the South Bohemian Guitar Festival in Nové Hrady, successfully represented at the Guitar Across Genres Festival with a concert at the Municipal Library in Prague and at the International Guitar Festival in Brno. In 2022 the ensemble recorded its first CD and performed in Brandenburg at the Brandenburg Guitar Days. The ensemble's notable achievements include 1st prize in the GIOVANI IN CRESCENDO competition (Italy 2022, there were more than 250 competing acts, ensembles from 22 countries and 3 continents) and a concert at the Tóny Dobré Vody Festival in České Budějovice in 2023.

Graduate of the Conservatory in České Budějovice in the class of Vilma Manová and the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna in the class of Alexander Swete, classical guitar. She regularly attends methodical guitar courses with leading Czech and foreign teachers. She is co-organiser and head of the orchestra section of the International South Bohemian Guitar Festival Nové Hrady. She actively performs in the chamber duo DuoDam. In 2013, she founded a guitar ensemble at the ZUŠ Český Krumlov, which won 1st place in the national competition Hradecké Guitarreando in Hradec Králové in 2019. In 2020, it became a laureate of the national competition Concerto Bohemia, in 2022 the absolute winner of the regional competition show Zlivská kytara, in 2023 it placed in the gold medal zone of the national competition show of chamber ensembles in Svitavy. She teaches at the František Pišinger ZUŠ Trhové Sviny and the ZUŠ Český Krumlov. She has been teaching at the Conservatory in České Budějovice since 2022 and is the artistic director and conductor of the Guitar Ensemble of the Conservatory in České Budějovice.

• physiotherapist, TCM practitioner, craniosacral therapy

• practice since 2009 (“Chinese Mission” - Malostranské náměstí 14, 118 00 Prague 1)

Education:

• 2nd Faculty of Medicine – General Medicine; Physiotherapy and Balneology

• 1st School of Traditional Chinese Medicine

• 2014 Internship in China (Taiyuan)

• Upledger Institute of Craniosacral Therapy

Offer of therapy:

Physiotherapy, acupuncture, phytotherapy, Qigong, dietetics, ear and abdominal acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, somato-emotional release

Josué Gutiérrez lives in Pordenone, where he teaches classical guitar and chamber music. For many years, he has been involved with the Segovia Guitar Academy in the diffusion of the classical guitar as a tool for the artistic and human development of children through the discovery of their own expressive dimension.

He works as a concert performer, teacher, jury member and artistic director. He has held numerous concerts, conferences, seminars and masterclasses in Mexico, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. In 2012 the Mexican TV show "Chiapanecos en el mundo" dedicated an episode to his artistic career.

He was a member of the Nahual Trio, founded in 2002, with which he has sustained an intense concert activity in Mexico and Europe. Among the numerous awards obtained by the trio stand out the 12 first prizes won in important national and international chamber competitions, the Medal of the President of the Senate of the Italian Republic, awarded by the International Chamber Music Competition "Gaetano Zinetti" of Verona and the Diploma of Merit of the Chigiana Academy of Siena conferred by Oscar Ghiglia to the Best Student of the course.

The Italian composer Marco De Biasi has dedicated many chamber and solo works to this formation and its members, including his Concert for Three Guitars and Orchestra, which premiered in 2008.

The CD "Trio Nahual", released in 2010, obtained great success with the critics and public support. The musicologist Ermanno Brignolo, in a review published by the Italian magazine "SeiCorde", wrote:
"... The three guitarists know, like few others in history, to create a true trio, combining their strong personalities in an ensemble compact, homogeneous, giving the impression that the sound is coming from a single instrument."

Josué Gutiérrez was born in 1978 in Mexico. After starting the study of the guitar in his country, he moved to Italy in order to continue his musical training with Paolo Pegoraro and Stefano Viola at the "Francisco Tárrega" Academy in Pordenone and the Conservatories of Castelfranco Veneto and Udine.

He obtained a diploma in guitar with maximum marks and a specialist degree with maximum marks and highest honors. His thesis "Johann Sebastian Bach: Ciaccona" was published by the musicological magazine “Il Fronimo” of Milan and by Farandola Editrice di Pordenone.
Among the several masterclasses he attended during his training, those held by Stefano Grondona, Pavel Steidl and Oscar Ghiglia stand out.

He also attended early music seminars held by harpsichordists Ilario Gregoletto, Robert Hill and Richard Lluby, and studied Viola da gamba with Daniele Cernutto. In addition to this, he specialized with Alessandra Costaperaria in pedagogy and music teaching.

Apart from his great love of music, his interests range in fields such as reading, photography, writing, drawing and Buddhism.
He plays a guitar made by luthier Marco Bortolozzo. 

Prof. Thomas Offermann counts today as one of the most internationally regarded guitar pedagogues in Europe and further afield. As soloist, with orchestra and as member of the internationally acclaimed Duo Sonare, one of the outstanding guitar duos of recent times, he has toured in over forty countries worldwide and participated at the most prestigious Guitar Festivals. Numerous Radio and Television broadcasts, together with 8 internationally appraised CD recordings provide a worthy documentation of the quality of his work.

Through his work with Duo Sonare, Thomas Offermann opened new ground for the classical guitar repertoire with the adaption of music by such figures as Chick Corea, Frank Zappa and Mike Oldfield. Chick Corea himself praised these interpretations for „so much feeling and beauty“.

As Professor he currently teaches an International Master class at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock; he is Artistic Director of the International Guitar Academy Berlin. His experienced and sensitive manner of teaching the guitar have won him great renown both at home and abroad. He is at present engaged in the publication of the „Integrative Guitar Technique“ which has already been featured at prestigious institutions, guitar festivals and universities across the world, winning acclaim from both participants and peers alike.

In recent years Thomas Offermann has also been active as a conductor of guitar orchestras presenting works by Steve Reich, Roland Dyens, Carlo Domeniconi, Benjamin Verdery, Leo Brouwer and others; Carlo Domeniconi and Benjamin Verdery wrote works for larger Guitar Ensembles for him.

Danielle Ribouillault wrote on his teaching in Les Cahiers de la Guitare:
“As I entered the class, he was explaining how to use the notes to revive a phrase, and then you can hear how the phrase flourishes and starts to live. He guides the student towards a generous Rubato that lets the melody vibrate. He, who had played with such a musicality and mastery, knows how to transmit his live-giving esprit… A lot of students attended his class: clearly because something special happens with him during his passionate transmission of music, something essential and more intense than otherwise.”

Since 2010 Thomas Offermann is the D’Addario’s European Classical Guitar Representative.

http://www.thomasoffermann.com

Petr Saidl studied at the Conservatory of Pardubice with Stanislav Juřica and at the Hochschule Franz Liszt in Weimar with prof. Roland Zimmer, prof. Jürgen Rost and prof. Monika Rost. He undertook master classes with e.g. Gordon Crosskey, John W. Duarte, Hubert Käppel, Costas Cotsiolis, Wolfgang Lendle a.o.

He was awarded prizes in numerous national and international guitar competitions. In 1990 he was placed on the premium document of the Czech Musical Fund. Since 1993 he has taught at the Conservatory of Pardubice, since 2007 he has been the head of the guitar department there. Since 2016 he has taught also at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. His students are prizewinners of prestigious national and international competitions (208 prizes, among them 78 first prizes). He cooperates with music publishing houses, he is regularly invited to take the chair of various guitar competition juries and he lectures at guitar festival courses, conservatories and music universities. In 2010 he became part of the D’Addario family.

He has given concerts across Europe, both as a soloist and as a player in various chamber ensembles, often with violist Milan Řehák, violinist Bohuslav Matoušek or as a member of guitar quartet „Guitar4mation“. He has made various TV and radio recordings for ORF, ARD, BR1, Czech Television and Czech Radio. He has released two solo CDs, then one CD with violist Milan Řehák and three with guitar quartet “Guitar4mation”.

He has been the director of the project „Guitar Kutná Hora“, which organizes “The International Guitar Biennial in Kutná Hora”, the festival “Guitar Night” and awards a prize “The Young Guitarist of the Year”.

Prof. Jens Wagner completed his studies with Karl Scheit, one of the great pedagogues of modern guitar playing. Important impulses and high sensitivity he received through intensive study of the old music. As a soloist and together with the Duo Sonare he has toured in more than 40 countries and played on major festivals.

As an arranger he has enriched the guitar repertoire with works also from rock and pop music e.g. Mike Oldfield’s „Tubular Bells“, a milestone in the history of music, or guitar virtuoso John McLaughlin's compositions. You can find in his programs contrasting connections of different music styles performed on the 19th century guitar and the modern Spanish guitar.

As an experienced guitarist and lutenist Jens Wagner has a profound knowledge he passes on to his students. He is professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg and at the University of the Arts Bremen.

His professional articles about „posture and movement theory“ and „filing technique for guitarists“ have been published in several magazines. Jens Wagner guitar arrangements of works by Telemann and Haydn have been published by Heinrichshofen and Trekel.

12 highly acclaimed CD recordings document his artistic work.

https://jenswagner.com

Michael Parkinson was born in Yorkshire, England in 1952. He began learning to play the bassoon at the age of 12, and at 16 was selected for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He went on to study the bassoon at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he had his first Alexander Technique lessons. On completing his musical studies in 1973 he joined the Orchestra of the English National Ballet, with whom he played for 12 years. During this time he enrolled in a 3-year training program to become an Alexander Technique Teacher. He qualified in 1979 and taught the AT in London alongside his musical career.

In 1985 Michael moved to Vienna to teach the AT at Dramatisches Zentrum Wien. From 1991-1996 he was a guest professor for the Alexander Technique at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Graz. In 1996 he established the Alexander Technique Teacher Training Centre in Vienna. In recent years he has given many AT workshops throughout the Czech Republic: in Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Kromeriz and Jesenik. He has been teaching at the GFM since 2004.

Michael is still actively engaged in the music world; giving AT lessons to many musicians, and also playing the bassoon with a variety of orchestras and chamber ensembles in Vienna.

ttps://www.alexandertechniquecentrevienna.com/