# Classical guitarists people have actually heard of



## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

I'm involved with the local classical guitar society and whenever I'm handing out our concert brochures there's always someone who looks at the list of performers then tells me they've never heard of any of them. We're thinking about organizing a concert featuring a big-name performer who outsiders have heard of, but there aren't that many around. At least 25 years ago people knew of Segovia and Liona Boyd.

So, without googling, please name any classical guitarists you are familiar with.

And Clean Channel - how do you guys out in TO deal with this?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Wow, you already named the 2 I know :/


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

People have always said that about the local celtic festival, that they don't know any performers there. We always respond with "YouTube them!"

It does seem the lot and responsibility of festivals and concert promoters at least in part to educate the public about acts they may not have heard. 

Oh yeah...Christopher Parkening, Sharon Isbin, Eliot Fisk...

Here are some bios: http://www.guitarsint.com/bios.cfm

Peace, Mooh.


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## JCJ (Jan 3, 2008)

Tariq Harb. I believe he is a Toronto guy... http://tariqharb.com
Wonderful player.


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

Mooh said:


> People have always said that about the local celtic festival, that they don't know any performers there. We always respond with "YouTube them!"


We've taken that a step farther and actually embed videos in our website. 



Mooh said:


> It does seem the lot and responsibility of festivals and concert promoters at least in part to educate the public about acts they may not have heard.


That is our mandate. We were thinking that one big name would encourage people to buy season tickets, we just haven't figured out who that big name would be.



Mooh said:


> Oh yeah...Christopher Parkening, Sharon Isbin, Eliot Fisk...


I think Parkening is retired again. I'd love to bring in Isbin or Fisk. Good to hear they're known outside of our sheltered community.

- - - Updated - - -



keto said:


> Wow, you already named the 2 I know :/


That's what I was afraid of. When we bring in Chinese or Russian guitarists we get really high attendance from those expat communities but it seems like those are the only countries where classical musicians can still be celebrities.


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## cwittler (May 17, 2011)

John Williams, Jorge Morel, Julian Bream with honorable mentions going to Sharon Isbin, Ana Vidovic, Aniello Desiderio, and, of course, Liona Boyd.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

I know of 7 ...the 2 not already mentioned are Almeida and Yepes.

Is Liona Boyd performing again?

Cheers

Dave


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

greco said:


> Is Liona Boyd performing again?


Her right hand still doesn't work. She's strumming chords with a pick, doing folky stuff.

Bream is also retired and Williams is retiring once he finishes current commitments. It's encouraging that some un-retired names are coming up though.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

I wouldn't describe them as "big names" but I can name (though not necessarily pronounce) a few that haven't already been mentioned. Maja Radovanlija, Chaconne Klaverenga, Gerald Garcia, & Eva Beneke.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Segovia and Liona Boyd for me.

My father-in-law started the Guelph orchestra. One year he invited a young classical guitarist as the guest performer. He was very good but no one had ever heard of him. An interesting point was that his guitar was a custom that was made for him by one of the members of the orchestra who has been making guitars for a number of years.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

In addition to ones already named I could also mention Benjamin Verdery, David Brandon and David Russell.

I would have listed Christopher Parkening, Sharon Isbin & Eliot Fisk, except Mooh already did and I had heard about Parkening retiring.


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

zontar said:


> In addition to ones already named I could also mention Benjamin Verdery, David Brandon and David Russell.
> I would have listed Christopher Parkening, Sharon Isbin & Eliot Fisk, except Mooh already did and I had heard about Parkening retiring.


Thanks for all of the replies so far. It's encouraging to know that some of the big names, and some not-so-big names too, are familiar to other guitarists.

Can I take the market research a step farther? What would it take to get you to go to a classical guitar concert?


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## gtrchris (Apr 1, 2007)

Kazuhito Yamashita....he's pretty good!! Saw him play Mussorgsky's "Pictures At an Exhibition" arranged for solo guitar..that was almost 20 years ago..no telling what he can do now!
Most of these events fly under the radar..you should belong to a guitar society or subscribe to newsletters, to stay in touch with upcoming concerts. Saw Ben Verdery,Elliot Fisk, Stephan Rak, and Manuel Barruecco many years ago and was totally blown away each time. 
Go and see a live performance(better than recordings IMO) it may change your life, or at least broaden your perspective.
Cheers


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

gtrchris said:


> Kazuhito Yamashita....he's pretty good!! Saw him play Mussorgsky's "Pictures At an Exhibition" arranged for solo guitar..that was almost 20 years ago..no telling what he can do now!


He's playing in a quintet with his kids now.



gtrchris said:


> Most of these events fly under the radar..you should belong to a guitar society or subscribe to newletters,


I'm the president of the society. The whole point of this discussion is to find ways to reach out to non-classical guitarists and get them interested in classical guitar concerts.



gtrchris said:


> Saw Ben Verdery,Elliot Fisk, Stephan Rak, and Manuel Barruecco many years ago and was totally blown away each time.


What would it take to get you to go to a concert now? It seems like you were into this 20 years ago but not anymore. Why'd you leave?



gtrchris said:


> Go and see a live performance(better than recordings IMO) it may change your life, or at least broaden your perspective.
> Cheers


You too!


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

kat_ said:


> Can I take the market research a step farther? What would it take to get you to go to a classical guitar concert?


For me the main things would be price (Which for most of the ones I've seen recently have been good prices or better) & my availability (Which hasn't been that good lately, but that's my fault)
Having heard of someone helps, but is not a requirement, but I would be willing to pay a little more for someone I've heard & know I like their playing.

Thanks to kat for posting some events here--one day I will make it to one.

(And a few years ago I was aware of Benjamin Verdery coming for a concert, but I heard about it early and then forgot to get tickets,, so I'd like to see him come back.)


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

kat_ said:


> Thanks for all of the replies so far. It's encouraging to know that some of the big names, and some not-so-big names too, are familiar to other guitarists.
> 
> Can I take the market research a step farther? _*What would it take to get you to go to a classical guitar concert?*_


As mentioned in my earlier post (#10), I have already been. I would go again and it wouldn't take a lot to get me to go if the ticket was reasonable.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

For me, it would have to be within a half hour drive. If it was a performer I'd never heard of before, I'd like to see 2 or 3 performers on the bill, so I could check out a number of "unknowns" at once. I would also like to see a ticket price of under $25, and I would prefer a small venue - even a house concert. Having a local name on the bill can help draw an audience too.

If you wanted to create a bit of buzz, a ticket giveaway at GC (or a canadian classical or fingerstyle guitar forum) might do the trick.


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## gtrchris (Apr 1, 2007)

Originally Posted by *gtrchris*  
Kazuhito Yamashita....he's pretty good!! Saw him play Mussorgsky's "Pictures At an Exhibition" arranged for solo guitar..that was almost 20 years ago..no telling what he can do now!
He's playing in a quintet with his kids now.








Originally Posted by *gtrchris*  
Most of these events fly under the radar..you should belong to a guitar society or subscribe to newletters,



I'm the president of the society. The whole point of this discussion is to find ways to reach out to non-classical guitarists and get them interested in classical guitar concerts.








Originally Posted by *gtrchris*  
Saw Ben Verdery,Elliot Fisk, Stephan Rak, and Manuel Barruecco many years ago and was totally blown away each time.



What would it take to get you to go to a concert now? It seems like you were into this 20 years ago but not anymore. Why'd you leave?








Originally Posted by *gtrchris*  
Go and see a live performance(better than recordings IMO) it may change your life, or at least broaden your perspective.
Cheers



You too!


Touche....I'm afraid I've moved away from classical guitar not because I don't like it, there's a lot of personal emotional pain centered around my former career that was cut short due to a car accident..not going there..

I've talked to other musicians who are not classical guitarists, and they don't connect to the instrument..probably because they've seen many sub-par performances in university and suffered through some as well!
The classical guitar when played by a master is sublime, but if it's not at that highest level it can be an excruitating experience for the listener.
My perspective anyways.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Scott Tennant, Andrew York...

Solo classical guitar from one artist for a whole concert is too much for my attention deficit brain, but if it was 2 or 3 or a different style/genre for an opener, a varied repertoire, etc, it's easier for me. I'm a big classical music fan, and I play classical guitar some too, but a whole evening of it from one artist is too much for me.

Distance and cost? Well, the next biggest city is Stratford which is an hour away, then London, Sarnia, and Owen Sound. Travel is part of the cost. Like ticket price, it is what it is and there's little one can do about it.

Peace, Mooh.


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

I want to thank everyone for their comments so far. Within our guitar society we had been thinking of bringing in the Assad brothers or Roland Dyens as the big names to expand our audience. They haven't been mentioned once in this thread. We still want to bring them here, but it's good to know that they probably won't be the ones to reach out to a new audience. We've had some success with advertising aimed at classical music fans who don't play guitar. Perhaps we should continue to focus there for our main series. We have also been kicking around the idea of adding a second series featuring Canadian performers in some alternative venue. It sounds like that might appeal more to other guitarists.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

kat_ said:


> ... we had been thinking of bringing in the Assad brothers or Roland Dyens as the big names to expand our audience. They haven't been mentioned once in this thread. We still want to bring them here, but it's good to know that they probably won't be the ones to reach out to a new audience.


While they didn't come to mind, they _are_ names that I recognize - so you may draw people with those names.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I'm not up on many current ones, unless they've been around for a while.


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