Julian Bream
(Guitar, Lute, Arranger). Born: July 15, 1933 - Battersea, London, England

The noted English guitarist and lutenist, Julian (Alexander) Bream, was brought up in a musical environment. His father, a commercial artist and book illustrator, also ran a small dance band in which he played jazz guitar. The young Bream was very attracted to the jazz guitar style of Django Reinhardt, the legendary Gypsy guitarist. Bream's father encouraged his son to play the piano, but also taught him to play the plectrum guitar.

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Juan Leovigildo Brouwer
Cuban composer, guitarist and conductor Leo Brouwer was born on the 1st of March 1939 in Havana. He learned the guitar playing by I. Nicola, studied composition in class of professor V. Persiketty. As a composer, Leo Brouwer developed under the influence of different musical movements. Joined to avantgardism, he wrote a row of allegoric compositions: "Sonogram I" for prepared grand piano (1963), "Commutations" for three performers (1966), Concert for jazz-quintet with the orchestra (1967), "Escaedras" for six instrument groups (1969), collage "Tradition is interrupted., but it is worse to worn" - compositions, supposing audience participation and using method of simultaneous sounding of clifferent pieces (1969)..

Vladimir Mikulka
follows in the traditional line of Czech musicians who have issued forth from Bohemia the land that has earned the nickname "Conservatory of Europe". This is by virtue of its long history of musical culture and for giving the world so many outstanding musicians.

The Czech Republic, as it is to-day, whose greatest river the Moldau inspired B. Smetana to compose his unique cycle of symphonic poems "My Country", has also been in the past the birth place of many families of musicians. These include the Bendas, Dusheks, Dusiks, Vanhall, Kozeluh and Myslivecek who left their homeland and established themselves in Germany and Austria or, in the case of the Rejcha, in Paris

Ernesto Bitetti
was born in Rosario, Argentina and has lived in Madrid since 1968. His performances extend to the five Continents, playing in such famous halls as the Bolshoi (St. Petersburg, Russia), Metropolitan Festival (Tokyo), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Lincoln Center (New York), Pleyel (Paris), Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Musikverein (Vienna), Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), Town Hall (Sydney), Teatro Real (Madrid), City Hall (Manila), Opera (Rome), Tchaikowsky (Moscow), Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Gulbenkian (Lisbon), Herkulesaal (Munich) and many others.

Jose Maria Gallardo del Rey
Since his début in Seville at the age of nine, Jose Maria has achieved universal public and critical acclaim. As a mature artist with a profound affinity for all aspects of the guitar, he has become a leading authority on the instrument among conductors and players alike, and a soloist in great demand by orchestras throughout the world. 

Sir Neville Marriner, Philippe Entremont, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Ros Marbá, Garcia Asensio, Josep Pons, José Ramón Encinar, Leo Brouwer and Karel Mark Chichón are among the many great names with whom he has played, and he has made regular concert appearances with orchestras such as ONE, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta de la RAI, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Ton Halle de Zurich, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta de Cadaqués, ORTVE, Orquestas de la Comunidad y Sinfónica de Madrid, Orchestre Nationale Belgique and Radio Phil Saarbrücken.

Roland Dyens
Born on October 19, 1955, French interpreter, composer, arranger and improviser Roland Dyens began guitar studies at the age of nine. Four years later he became a student of Spanish Master guitarist Alberto Ponce and, in 1976, was awarded the Licence de Concert de l’École Normale de Musique de Paris. 

While learning his instrument, Roland Dyens also studied composition with the renowned teacher, composer and conductor Désiré Dondeyne under whose guidance he was awarded the First Prize in Harmony, Counterpoint and Analysis.

Among the most distinguished awards obtained during the early years of his career, Roland Dyens received the Special Prize at the International Competition Città di Alessandria (Italy) and the Grand Prix du Disque de l’Académie Charles-Cros, both in honor of the major Brasilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Manuel Barrueco
is recognized internationally as a leading figure in the guitar world today. His artistry has been continually described as that of a superb instrumentalist and an elegant musician, possessing a seductive sound and uncommon lyrical gifts.

His international tours take him to some of the most important musical centers in the world each season. Recent appearances have included New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Munich, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, Copenhagen, Athens, Seoul, Taipei, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Manuel Barrueco also has completed nine tours of Japan.

Highlights of the upcoming season include concerts in Spain, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Hungary, appearances with the Baltimore Symphony and the Seattle Symphony, and a European tour with the Cuarteto Latinoamericano.

Kazuhito Yamashita
(Kazuhito Yamashita), Yamashita began to study the guitar at the age of eight with his father, Toru Yamashita. In 1972, aged eleven, he won the Kyushu Guitar Competition. Four years later, he was awarded First Prize in the All Japan Guitar Competition. In 1977, he won three important international competitions - the Ramirez in Spain, the Alessandria in Italy and Paris Radio France Competition, being the youngest winner ever recorded.

In 1978, Yamashita made his debut in Japan and, in the following year, traveled to Europe. While still in his twenties, he made his first appearances in Canada's Toronto International Guitar Festival and gave a solo recital in the Musikverein (Grosser Saal) in Vienna, he also performed in the US and UK. He gave solo recitals in concert halls around the world such as the Lincoln Center and has performed with a variety of orchestras and conductors in Europe, North America and Asia.

John Christopher Williams
The remarkable Australian guitarist, John Christopher Williams, was born in Melbourne, Australia to an English father, Leonard (Len) Williams, and an Australian-Chinese mother (a daughter of well known Melbourne barrister William Ah Ket). Len Williams was an accomplished guitarist who emigrated from Britain to Australia, and was best known there for his jazz playing (he was founder of The Monkey Sanctuary in Cornwall, England). John was taught initially by his father, but it soon became apparent that the boy was a gifted guitarist, and the family planned to move back to London so that he could pursue further studies. To afford the trip, Len Williams took an additional job as a hippo-keeper at the Melbourne Zoo.

Pepe Romero
(born March 8, 1944 in Málaga, Spain) is a world-renowned classical and flamenco guitarist. He is particularly famous for his outstanding technique and colorful musical interpretations on the instrument.
As a soloist Pepe Romero has appeared in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, and many countries around the world with the Toronto, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, Houston, Pittsburgh, Boston, San Francisco and Dallas Symphony Orchestras, as well as with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the New York, Bogota and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the London Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, I Musici, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Hungarica, the Hungarian State Orchestra, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Spanish National Radio/Television Orchestra, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, The New Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Springfiled Orchestra, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the American Sinfonietta and the Bournemouth Symphony.