Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Spain. Many professional classical guitarists today were students of Segovia, or students of his students. Segovia's contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire not only included commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style.
John Christopher Williams is an Australian virtuosic classical guitarist renowned for his ensemble playing as well as his interpretation and promotion of the modern classical guitar repertoire. In 1973, he shared a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music Performance category with fellow guitarist Julian Bream for Together. Guitar historian Graham Wade has said that "John is perhaps the most technically accomplished guitarist the world has seen."
Julian Alexander Bream was an English classical guitarist and lutenist. Regarded as one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century, he played a significant role in improving the public perception of the classical guitar as a respectable instrument. Over the course of a career that spanned more than half a century, Bream helped revive interest in the lute.
Stephen Cuthbert Vivian Dodgson was a British composer and broadcaster. Dodgson's prolific musical output covered most genres, ranging from opera and large-scale orchestral music to chamber and instrumental music, as well as choral works and song. Three instruments to which he dedicated particular attention were the guitar, harpsichord and recorder. He wrote in a mainly tonal, although sometimes unconventional, idiom. Some of his works use unusual combinations of instruments.
Miguel Llobet Solés was a classical guitarist, born in Barcelona, Spain. Llobet was a renowned virtuoso who toured Europe and America extensively. He made well known arrangements of Catalan folk songs for the solo guitar, made famous arrangements for the guitar of the piano compositions of Isaac Albéniz, arrangements immortalized by Andrés Segovia, and was also the composer of original works.
The Concierto de Aranjuez is a classical guitar concerto by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Written in 1939, it is by far Rodrigo's best-known work, and its success established his reputation as one of the most significant Spanish composers of the 20th century.
John William Duarte was a British composer, guitarist and writer.
Xuefei Yang is a Chinese classical guitarist.
David Russell is a classical guitarist. He plays Matthias Dammann guitars. Widely known for his near flawless tone and diverse repertoire, Russell is one of the most distinguished and accomplished classical guitarists in the world.
Eliot Hamilton Fisk is an American classical guitarist.
Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez, was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the Concierto de Aranjuez, a cornerstone of the classical guitar repertoire.
Narciso Yepes was a Spanish guitarist. He is considered one of the finest virtuoso classical guitarists of the twentieth century.
Ida Presti was a French classical guitarist and composer. She first came to prominence as a child prodigy, before maturing into what Alice Artzt has called "the greatest guitarist of the 20th century, and possibly of all time."
Stephen Marchionda is an American virtuoso classical guitar performer.
Bradley Nathan Richter is an American classical guitarist.
Richard Anthony Hand, was an English classical guitarist.
Ronald Charles Purcell was an American guitarist, with degrees from the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and California State University, Northridge. He was Professor Emeritus of the Department of Music at California State University, Northridge and Director of the International Guitar Research Archive, considered one of the finest guitar archives in the world. His major teachers included Andrés Segovia, Emilio Pujol, Macario Santiago Kastner, Alirio Diaz and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, whose Hommage to Purcell, Op. 170, No. 38 is dedicated to him.
Carlos Antonio Bonell is an English classical guitarist of Spanish origin. He has been described by Classical Guitar magazine as "one of the great communicators of the guitar world".
Marc Ongley is an Australian classical and jazz guitarist, composer, and teacher. He has lived in the United Kingdom since 1991. Born in Maitland, New South Wales, he became the first Australian to be awarded the Licentiate of the Trinity College of Music, London (LTCL) and the Fellowship of the Trinity College of Music London (FTCL), in 1974 and 1977 respectively. The Sydney Morning Herald described Ongley as "one of Australia's finest classical guitarists". Ongley studied with the renowned Australian music educator Don Andrews and famous classical guitarists Alirio Diaz and Turibio Santos, students of Andrés Segovia. He recorded and released several classical and jazz albums throughout the 1980s and 1990s. More recently, Ongley released albums in the genres of blues and rock.
Rolando Valdés-Blain was a Cuban classical guitarist, born in Havana, and immigrated to New York as a child. In the 1930s he and his brother Alberto had a weekly music show on WNYC radio. He served in Burma from 1942 to 1946 during World War II and afterwards studied at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, where he was awarded the Grand Prize for concert guitar playing by Joaquín Rodrigo. He toured worldwide under the management of impresario Sol Hurok and his United States tours as guitar soloist included Yale University, Carnegie Recital Hall, and the Spanish Ballet. He was one of the pioneering classical guitarists to perform as soloist together with a symphony orchestra, in 1955 with the Radio City Music Hall Symphony Orchestra and the Joffrey Ballet at the New York City Center. He appeared in Tennessee Williams's Broadway play Camino Real and he also composed the music for the play Bullfight. He was vice-president and adviser of Manuel Velazquez guitars and founder of the Guitar Department at the Manhattan School of Music. In 1968 he was invited to give a command performance at the White House. The New York Times called his performance "a musical gem…reflecting every baroque nuance of the music".
