Evangelina Mascardi
Evangelina Mascardi is considered one of the best active lutenists in the international concert scene.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1977, she graduated in classical guitar and began her concert activity very young. In 1997 she moved to Europe to study lute at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Switzerland) where she obtained the "Solisten Diplom" in 2001 under the guidance of Hopkinson Smith. For over a decade he played as a continuist directed by, among others, Jordi Savall (Hespèrion XXI), Marc Minkowsky (Les Musiciens du Louvre), Andrea Marcon (Venice Baroque Orchestra), Giovanni Antonini (Giardino Armonico), Chiara Banchini (415 ) and Simon Rattle (Berliner Philarmoniker), with whom he has recorded over 30 CDs. Currently he has limited his collaboration to the Ensemble Zefiro (Alfredo Bernardini) and Monteverdi Choir (Sir John Elliot Gardiner) to focus mainly on the solo repertoire. Always received by positive reviews, she has performed as a soloist in important European ancient music festivals (Fringe - Barcelona, Concentus - Brno, Resonanzen - Vienna, Luth et Theorbe - Genêve, Early Music Festival - London, Antigua - Daroca Music Festival, Forum Musicum - Breslau), and guitarists (Madrid, Treviso, Santander, Castell'Arquato, Pordenone). He has dedicated four solo recordings to music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Bellerofonte Castaldi and Laurent de Saint-Luc for ORF-Alte Musik (2005-2011), Arcana (2011) and Musique en Wallonie (2018). Evangelina Mascardi teaches Lute at the "Conservatorio A. Vivaldi" in Alessandria.Since 2020 he has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the "International Guitar Convention" (Milan) and from 2021 of the Board of Directors of the Italian Lute Society.
Carlos Bonell
Carlos Bonell has been described by the Classical Guitar Magazine, UK as “one of the great communicators of the guitar world”. He has recorded more than twenty albums and played in forty countries, with concert appearances ranging from intimate recitals to concertos with symphony orchestras. Carlos was born in London of Spanish parents in 1949. He started to play at the age of five, learning to play Spanish folk music from his father who was a keen amateur guitarist. He completed his studies at the Royal College of Music with John Williams, where he was appointed the youngest ever professor at the age of 22. In 1981 Carlos made the first of his three recordings of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. Recorded in Canada with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoit for the Decca label, it was the first-ever digital recording of the concerto and was hailed as “a magnificent triumph” by the Classical Music magazine. It was awarded a coveted rosette by the Penguin CD Guide and has been frequently singled out ever since as the finest version available. In 2006 Carlos began to help Sir Paul McCartney who is composing a concerto for guitar and orchestra. Over many meetings he has notated and recorded drafts of the guitar part. The work was featured in a June 2007 cover article by The New Yorker magazine. Carlos’ interest in bringing the classical guitar into the mainstream led in 2008 to his album release Queen Guitar Rhapsodies, in concerto-style arrangements of music by the group Queen for solo guitar and symphony orchestra. It was widely praised, including by Queen’s Brian May. In 2012 Carlos released a new album Magical Mystery Guitar Tour dedicated to his own arrangements for solo guitar of music by The Beatles. As well as going to number one on the UK classical iTunes charts, the album also entered the top ten in the overall UK iTunes charts. In 2018 Carlos spent time in the studio recording music for the UK TV series Endeavour (the young Inspector Morse). Carlos also recorded the guitar music and theme with orchestra for the original Inspector Morse series – 30 years ago!
Eduardo Fernandez
Eduardo Fernández began studying classical guitar at 7, with Raúl Sánchez Arias. He went on to study with Abel Carlevaro, Guido Santórsola (harmony and counterpoint) and Héctor Tosar (composition). He won first prize in the Andrés Segovia International competition in Mallorca, Spain (1975) and several other competitions, among them Porto Alegre, Brazil (1972) and was also prized at Radio France (1975). His New York debut, in 1977, with spectacular reviews, opened the doors to an international career. His very succesful London debut (Wigmore Hall, 1983) led to an exclusive recording contract with Decca/London. Since then he has played, besides the USA and most European countries, in Latin America and Mexico, and also in Asia (Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Singapore), Australia and South Africa. His more than 30 recordings cover a substantial share of the guitar repertoire, solos as well as concerti. He has also recorded for Erato (with Alexander Markov in violin), Arte Nova, Oehms Classics, Delmark Records, and in Japan playing duos with Shin-Ichi Fukuda.
Active also as a teacher, he has taught masterclasses in the whole world, including prestigious institutions such as the Curtis Institute and the Manhattan School of Music in the USA, and many leading music schools in Europe. He was also a fellow researcher at the Uruguayan University's Music School (EUM/UDELAR) from 2000 to 2023, and has published many papers and articles (especially in “Il Fronimo”) as well as three books: “Tecjnique, Mechanism, Learning”, “Understanding J.S.Bach”, and “Inventando la guitarra”.
Massimo Delle Cese
Massimo Delle Cese is a reference figure for the guitar, with constant concert activity in more than 20 countries, part of the group of guitarists routinely invited to international festivals all over the world. His recordings receive favor and extraordinary international critical acclaim, with enthusiastic reviews in trade journals with exceptional commercial and critical success. Numerous appearances for international Radio-TV stations such as SBC, BBC, Granada Television, Polsk TV, RAI, RAI International, RAI Sat, Radio Vaticana, Radiotelevisora de México, Miami WBPT PBS, China TV…
Recognitions bestowed on his career were the 2003 International "Pegaso D'Oro" award and the prestigious "City of Rome 2004" award for qualified professional and artistic activity. He was the first guitarist to cross the threshold of the prestigious Roman auditorium "Parco della Musica” (Music Park in Rome) where he was the interpreter of the famous Concierto de Aranjuez by J. Rodrigo, with enormous success and a "sold out". Further his concert activity, he passionately devotes himself to teaching: he is Guitar Professor at “Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, at AVOS International Academy and regularly gives master-classes at universities and festivals around the world. Prof. Delle Cese is Artistic Director of the Accademia Romana della Chitarra, of the biennial “GuitFest” at Conservatorio Santa Cecilia, of NewsForGuitar and the NfG Camp. Massimo Delle Cese plays exclusively with strings Savarez Cantiga Premium on hand made guitars by Leonardo De Gregorio and Carsten Kobs.
Thu Le
Thu Le is an international award-winning classical guitarist and one of the world’s most influential performers. The Hanoi born guitarist is currently living in Bahrain. She brings to her mesmerizing performances a unique blend of passion, colour and personality which perfectly complements her undoubted musicality and technical prowess. Thu Le’s love affair with the guitar began at the age of four thanks to her father, Le Hanh. At the age of five she gave her first public performance in Vietnam under his tutorship. Thereafter, her relationship with the guitar blossomed and her journey continued at a relentless pace. She passed the entrance examination for the National Conservatory of Music, Hanoi at the age of only seven, making her the youngest ever student to be admitted to this prestigious establishment. Thu Le’s passion for guitar has seen her perform globally, including Italy, Spain, England, France, Austria, Germany, Holland, USA, Canada, Bulgaria, Romania, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Nepal, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, South Korea and China.
Thu Le was invited to perform, judge competitions and hold master classes at prestigious Guitar festivals all over the world, like Guitar Foundation of America, Calcutta International Guitar Festival, Joaquin Rodrigo Festival in Spain, Bearn Guitar Festival in France and many others. Besides her solo career she also collaborates and performs with orchestras, string quartets, vocalists, violinists and flutists.
Since 2022, Thu Le has been one of the key performers in the International Guitar Night series, playing multiple concerts across North America and Europe – tours that she will participate in again during 2023 and 2024. Thu Le plays Manuel Adalid guitar on Savarez strings.
Olivier Chassain
Was born in Paris in 1957. An active concert artist, he divides up his time between perfor ming, teaching and composing.He started studying the guitar as a young boy, while living in the Limoges area with his fa- mily. His first guitar teacher and mentor Roger Généraux encouraged him to take up com- posing as well. Olivier subsequently studied composition with Louis Tillet at the Limoges conservatory where he also earned degrees in harmony and counterpoint. After graduating from Roger Généraux’s the newly-‐created guitar class at the Orléans Con- servatory, Olivier attended Carel Harms’ advanced study course in Paris and Alexandre Lagoya’s intensive summer course at the International Nice Academy in 1975. In 1977, he became a student of Lagoya at the Paris Conservatory – currently known as CNSMDP – and graduated with the Premier Prix de guitare (First Prize) in 1982. Olivier’s performing career took an international turn after he won First Prize in the Guitar Foundation of America’s competition. He was the first non-‐American competitor to win the coveted award. The following year, he embarked on a GFA-‐sponsored tour of North-‐America. He has since then been regularly invited back to give concerts and masterclas- ses, and has toured the rest of the world. His teaching career began in 1978 when he took over at the age of 21 the position left by his first teacher. In 1992, he was named guitar professor at the Conservatoire Jacques Thi- baud in Bordeaux. Two years later, Olivier was called on to take over the prestigious position held until then by Alexandre Lagoya. He was named guitar professor at the CNSMDP, a position he has held since then. Several students in his class have since won numerous inter- national competitions top awards and have embarked on a particularly promising career, Besides teaching at the Paris Conservatoire, Olivier has taught a number of advanced summer guitar courses in various parts of France throughout the years, Olivier currently teaches intensive courses in the Limoges area several times a year. Olivier Chassain’s eclectic repertoire spans the Renaissance to the present. His love of Renaissance and Baroque music led him to study lute and vihuela extensively for many years and impart some of the spirit of these instruments in order to participate in furthering their legacy. Olivier Chassain has always been a strong advocate of new music for guitar.
