Manuel Barrueco
Manuel Barrueco is internationally recognized as one of the most important guitarists of our time. His unique artistry has been continually described as that of a superb instrumentalist and a superior and elegant musician, possessing a seductive sound and uncommon lyrical gifts.
His career has been dedicated to bringing the guitar to the main musical centers of the world. During three decades of concertizing, he has performed across the United Sates from the New World Symphony in Miami to the Seattle Symphony, and from the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic to New York’s Lincoln Center. He has appeared with such prestigious orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra and with the Boston Symphony under the direction of Seiji Ozawa, in the American Premiere of Toru’s Takemitsu’s To the Edge of Dream. In addition, he appears regularly with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and with San Francisco Performances.
His international tours have taken him to some of the most important musical centers in the world. Highlights include the Royal Albert Hall in London, Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Philharmonie in Berlin, Teatro Real in Madrid, and Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. In Asia he has completed close to a dozen tours of Japan and made repeated appearances in Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Barrueco’s tours of Latin America have included performances in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico. He has also performed as a guest soloist with other international orchestras such as the Russian State Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Auckland Symphony in New Zealand, and the radio symphonies of Munich and Frankfurt.
Barrueco’s recording catalogue includes over a dozen recordings for the EMI label. His recording of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with conductor and tenor Plácido Domingo and the Philharmonia Orchestra was cited as the best recording of that piece in Classic CD Magazine, while ¡Cuba! was called "an extraordinary musical achievement" by the San Francisco Chronicle. Nylon & Steel, a collection of duos with guitar greats Al Di Meola, Steve Morse (Deep Purple), and Andy Summers (The Police), demonstrates Barrueco's outstanding versatility and imaginative programming. His latest release, Concierto Barroco, with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and conductor Víctor Pablo Pérez, received a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Classical Recording. This CD contains the world premiere recordings of new works for guitar and orchestra by Roberto Sierra and Arvo Pärt, as well as two guitar concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Other recordings encompass many of the works from the Spanish and Latin American repertoire, as well as Bach and Mozart, Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea etcetera. He collaborated with soprano Barbara Hendricks and flutist Emmanuel Pahud in Cantos y Danzas, with The King’s Singers on a Strauss album, and with the London Symphony on Manuel Barrueco plays Lennon & McCartney. His early recordings, available on VOX, have become a classic amongst guitar recordings.
Barrueco's commitment to contemporary music and to the expansion of the guitar repertoire has led him to collaborations with many distinguished composers such as Steven Stucky, Michael Daugherty, Roberto Sierra, Arvo Pärt and Toru Takemitsu, whose last orchestral work Spectral Canticle was a double concerto written specifically for Manuel Barrueco and violinist Frank Peter Zimmerman.
Manuel Barrueco has appeared on a wide array of American television programs including "CBS Sunday Morning", A&E's "Breakfast with the Arts", and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" on PBS. His work in music also inspired Michael Lawrence’s biographical documentary: “Manuel Barrueco: A Gift and a Life” which has been aired by PBS stations around the United States including WNET-TV in New York. He was also featured in a Lexus car commercial. Barrueco’s performances have been broadcast by television stations around the world such as NHK in Japan, Bayerische Rundfunk in Germany, and RTVE in Spain.
This coming season includes the world premiere of Roberto Sierra’s Danzas Concertantes with the Orchestra of Castilla and Leon in Spain, and a new quintet by Gabriela Lena Frank, which Barrueco will tour with the Cuarteto Latinoamericano. Other scheduled performances include appearances with the National Orchestra of Spain, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, and the Utah Symphony Orchestra, with recitals in Liechtenstein, Iceland, San Francisco and Seattle to name a few, and he will appear in the guitar festivals of Koblenz, Germany and Cordoba, Spain.
Recent CD releases include two recordings that feature the music of Astor Piazzolla: Grammy-nominated "Solo Piazzolla" (2007) as well as "Tango Sensations" (2008), a collaboration with the Cuarteto Latinoamericano that includes the music of Carlos Gustavino. A second collaboration with the Cuarteto Latinoamericano will be released later this year featuring guitar quintets by Gabriela Lena Frank, Michael Daugherty, Roberto Sierra, and Aaron Jay Kernis. These recordings are part of the exclusive Manuel Barrueco Collection on Tonar Music label, a label formed specifically to release Barrueco's recordings.
Manuel Barrueco began playing the guitar at the age of eight, and he attended the Esteban Salas Conservatory in his native Cuba. He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1967, as political refugees. Later, he completed his advanced studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he now shares his love for music with a small number of exceptionally gifted young guitarists from all over the world.
www.barrueco.com
Beijing Guitar Duo
Yameng Wang was born in 1981 in China where she began studying the guitar with Prof. Chen Zhi when she was 10 years old. When she was only twelve years old, she won first place in the Tokyo International Guitar Competition and soon after won second prize in the 1995 Alessandria International Guitar Competition in Italy and the 1996 La Infanta Doña Cristina International Guitar Competition in Spain. Yameng has appeared in oncert throughout Europe, including Radio France in Paris, Germany, Britain, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, and Australia, as well as in Malaysia, China and in the US. She has recorded a solo album for GHA Records and she is currently pursuing her Master’s of Music degree at the Peabody Conservatory.
Meng Su was born in 1988 in China. She began her classical guitar studies with Prof. Chen Zhi when she was 9 years old, later entering the Middle School of the Central Conservatory of Music of China. At the age of 14, she won first prize in the 5th Vienna Youth Guitar Competition, later also going on to win the 2005 Tokyo International Guitar Competition, the 2006 Christopher Parkening International Young Guitarist Competition and the 2006 Iserlohn International Guitar Competition in Germany. She has performed in the UK, the US and in Korea, where a CD and a DVD was made of her performance both solo and in duo with Yameng Wang. Meng is currently enrolled in the Performer’s Certificate program at the Peabody Conservatory.
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