Hearty congratulations are in order for three exceptional guitarists:
Taiwanese guitarist Chia-Wei Lin, just 19 years old, was the winner of the first European Guitar Concerto Competition, held January 9–February 4 in Groningen, the Netherlands. The three-round contest required the participants (who represented many countries) to play a concerto in each round. Lin is a student at Lemmensinstituut music conservatory in Belgium. This was the 11th international prize that Lin has won since he started competing at the age of 12. The European Guitar Competition was put on by the Dutch Guitar Foundation.
Here is this talented fellow a few years ago, playing “Torrija” from Torroba’s Castles of Spain suite:
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One of our favorites, the exceptional Spanish guitarist Pablo Saínz Villegas recently became the first classical guitarist in many years to be signed by Sony, one-time home of John Williams (on Columbia). His first album for the label is sure to cause a sensation: It’s an album of duets with the great Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, the first record of this sort for the legendary tenor. the duo have performed together a few times over the past couple of years, but the album, to be released later this year, and featuring arrangements written by the always- inventive Sérgio Assad. We’ll have more on that album later in the year, but for now, enjoy this video of them in 2016 performing Adiós Granada.
And last but not least, congratulations to Carlos Barbosa-Lima, the truly amazing Brazilian maestro (who has lived in New York for many years) on the occasion of being awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from Five Towns College in Dix Hills (Long Island), New York.
And because we can never resist an excuse to post a video, Here is Dr. Barbosa-Lima in action, play La Bikina, by Ruben Fuentes. What a master!