Pavel Steidl, one of the leading classical guitarists in the world, was born in Rakovnik, Czechoslovakia, but has lived in the Netherlands for many years. After winning first prize at the 1982 International Guitar Competition of Radio France in Paris, Steidl embarked on a highly successful career. His highly expressive performances of rare 19th-century guitar literature on authentic instruments add a wonderful dimension to his already exceptional performances. Pavel Steidl also composes himself and his own compositions are often played on his concerts. Pavel has played in more then thirty countries of the world from among Canada, Cuba, Spain, Poland, Austria, Costa Rica, Mexico.
Pavel Steidl plays many instruments, but mainly Francisco Simplicio (1926) and Franz Butcher (2008), and romantic guitar: copies of J.G.Stauer guitar made by B.Kresse and an original instrument from the beginning of the 19th century, Nikolaus G. Ries circa 1830.
In 2004, readers of the Italian Guitar Magazine Guitart chose him as ‘Guitarist of the Year’, and he was also listed among the 8 most important guitarists in 2003.
Steidl plays with a quasi-improvisational flexibility...He varies his tempos to an extraordinary degree, taking risks that most conservatory-trained players of modern instruments would be too cautious to try. There are rhetorically exaggerated grand pauses, impetuous accelerandos, hushed turns inward…The result is invigorating, breathing life into works…there is not a single dull moment on the program…a remarkable achievement. (American Record Guide 2004)
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, 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)
The La Tour Baroque Duo brings together Michael Cardin and Tim Blackmore, two outstanding early music performers who combine their talents to present inspired programs of duos and solos for baroque lute, recorder, theorbo and harpsichord from the 16th through 18th centuries.
A native of Montréal, Michel Cardin has gained international recognition as a teacher, perfomer, musicologist and producer. Professor of guitar and lute at the Université de Moncton, which in1992 awarded him the status of a PhD, he obtained a Premier Prix in guitar from the Conservatoire de Montréal in 1977. He has recorded twelve CDs of works for solo baroque lute and duos for lute and flute from the London Manuscript of Sylvius Leopold Weiss, has given concerts and lectures in Europe, Canada, the USA, Japan and Africa and has published musicological articles in six languages. He has received twelve ECMA nominations and been awarded New Brunswick’s Éloize, Étoile and Excellence in Music prizes, the OPUS Prize in Quebec and the Geocities 2000 Award for Outstanding Achievement for the New Millennium. He performs on a copy of a baroque lute by J.C. Hoffman made by Nico Van der Waals; his theorbo, made by Jacob Van de Geest, is a copy of an early 17th century instrument by Magnus Tieffenbrucker.
A native of Moncton, Tim Blackmore is the founder and artistic director of the Early Music Studio of Saint John. He received his musical training at the Conservatoire de Montréal (Premier Prix, Piano), the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Guildhall School of Music in London (AGSM, Piano and Clarinet; Concert Diploma, Piano). He has made numerous solo broadcasts for CBC Radio, Radio-Canada and for the BBC and has recorded CDs of keyboard music by such diverse composers as Byrd, Frescobaldi, Bach and Mozart. His latest recording, a collaboration with bassoonist Robert Lewis, is Baroque Sonatas for Recorder and Bassoon (2007). He has given many performances in New Brunswick both as soloist and in collaboration with other leading musicians and organizations. He performs on an Italian-Flemish harpsichord built by Andrew Graham and his recorders, copies of early 18th century instruments by Terton and Bressan, were made by Hans Coolsma and Stephan Blezinger.
German guitarist Eva Beneke has performed at festivals in Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Lithuania, Perú, Mexico, the Netherlands and the USA. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles where she teaches at Whittier College and holds a teaching assistantship at the University of Southern California´s Thornton School of Music. Eva is taking private lessons with Grammy-winning artist Scott Tennant, Pepe Romero and jazz-guitar legend Bruce Forman while pursuing a doctorate at USC. Her debut CD “Coming Home” was released in June 2010.
Tracy Anne Smith has performed in concert in her native Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Italy, Germany, Spain and England. Her solo CD, Lilac.Star.Bird, heard on NPR’s Classical Guitar Alive, brings to light masterworks of the 20th and 21st centuries, including the Prix d’Eté winning title track written for her by the outstanding Taiwanese composer Ying-Chen Kao. Soundboard Magazine called Lilac.Star.Bird “exceedingly beautiful,” and exclaimed, “Smith gets some of the loveliest sounds I have ever heard from a Matthias Dammann guitar.” Minor 7th Online Magazine described it as “masterful…an absolute success…an opportunity to display her incredible versatility as a guitarist. The rich and oftentimes thundering tones Smith can produce are truly breathtaking.”
Canadian guitarist Emma Rush was involved with music from an early age and played many instruments before discovering a love for the guitar. After initial studies, Emma Rush moved to Nova Scotia to complete an undergraduate degree at Dalhousie University in Halifax. During her years in Halifax, she was active in playing solo and chamber music concerts and performing to great acclaim in numerous masterclasses. She quickly became known for her warm sound and expressive playing.
From 2002-2006 Emma Rush lived in Dortmund, Germany. She completed post-graduate studies with world-renowned guitarist Dale Kavanagh at the Hochschule fur Musik in Detmold (February 2006). She graduated at the top of her class. The years in Germany offered her many opportunities to refine her skills in masterclasses with David Russell, Roland Dyens, Carlo Marchione, and Tilman Hoppstock, among others. In addition to many solo concerts in Germany and beyond, she played regularly as a duo with Turkish guitarist Tuba Akkaya.
Emma Rush is now based Hamilton where she maintains a busy teaching studio in additional to faculty appointments at Redeemer University and Mohawk College. She performs throughout North America and Europe and appears regularly at international guitar festivals (Iserlohn, Acadia, Sauble Beach). Emma Rush is the founder and artistic director of the successful Guitar Hamilton concert series and the Hamilton International Guitar Festival. In 2011 she was a top prize winner at the International Guitar Competition in Columbus, Georgia and the Great Lakes Guitar Competition in Rochester, NY, and the winner of the 2011 City of Hamilton Arts Award for Music. Recent engagements include the 20th International Guitar Festival in Iserlohn, Germany, the Guitar Fort Worth Masters Series, Texas, the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Sociaety, and a tour of the eastern provinces of Canada. Upcoming appearances include concerts in Canada, the United Staes, Germany, Spain, Mexico and Turkey.
Giampaolo Bandini - Cesare Chiacchiaretta Duo, guitar and bandoneon, formed in 2002 pursuing the clear aim to propose Argentine music through the charm and magic of its most representative instruments. The duo immediately became an important point of reference in the international concert circuit thanks to their great communicativeness joined to an extraordinary charisma. Invited by the most important festivals and theatres in the world, they have toured in Mexico, Romania, China, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Holland, Croatia, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Hungary meeting outstanding critical and audience approval.
The duo had the privilege to play Astor Piazzolla’s Double Concerto “Hommage a Liegi” conducted by Maestro Leo Brouwer at the Auditorium Paganini of Parma and for the Unione Musicale of Turin with the renowned Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra conducted by Pavel Berman. In 2004 Bandini – Chiacchiaretta Duo was awarded the 15th “Beniamino Joppolo” Città di Patti Prize (in the province of Messina, Italy) for remarkable artistic achievements in the field of music.
In 2005 the duo made their debut in the prestigious Grand Hall of Saint Petersburg Academic Philarmonic achieving such great success that they were immediately asked to play for the following two years. Their peculiarity of living music to the full and without boundaries leads them to work together with prominent artists such as Arnoldo Foà, Elio delle Storie Tese, Amanda Sandrelli and musicians such as Fernando Suarez Paz, Michele Pertusi, Corrado Giuffredi, Danilo Rossi, Massimo Quarta, Enrico Bronzi, Franca Masu, Maria Estela Monti, Enrico Fagone and many others.
Their first CD “Hombres de Tango” sold more than ten thousand copies and was greeted with great enthusiasm by the critics. They have recorded for the most important radio and television broadcasters in Italy and abroad.
Recently, a concert held in Brussels was broadcast via satellite in more than twenty countries. As teachers, they are requested by the most renowned Academies and Universities and hold classes at the Institutes of Higher Education “Luigi Boccherini” in Lucca and “Tito Schipa” in Lecce as well as at the Summer Festivals of Gubbio and Portogruaro.