Bristol Classical Guitar Society

February 2025 Meetup
2025-02-13 19:15 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Tonight’s theme: Renaissance
19:15-19:45 Solos and chamber ensembles 20:00-20:50
Guest Speaker: Sam Brown “Caught Luting: Playing renaissance lute music on the guitar” Sam Brown leads a practical workshop on how to transfer lute music well to the guitar: expect a whistle-stop tour of lute repertory, division playing, ornaments, and right hand hints and tips.
21:00-22:00 BCGS Ensemble Rehearsal

January Meetup and AGM
2025-01-09 19:15 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Tonight’s theme is:
Celebrating the Slow. (Slow movements and slower pieces)
19:15 – 19:45
Solos and chamber ensembles
19:45 – 20:00
Members’ short talks
20:00-20:50
Ensemble
21:00-22:00 Annual General Meeting
It’s a very exciting AGM — this is is the first one since we officially became a charity last year, and there’s lots to discuss.

If you want to submit any AOB items, please do so at least two weeks before the AGM.

2024 Members' Winter Concert
2024-12-12 19:30 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Please come along to support our members! Solo performances, as well as small groups and the large ensemble.

Marco Tamayo - BCGS Concert Series 2024
2024-11-16 19:30 - 22:00 | Saint Stephens Church, 21 St Stephen’s Street, Bristol, Bristol, BS1 1EQ, United Kingdom
BCGS CONCERT SERIES 2024
The Bristol Classical Guitar Society is proud to present Cuban guitarist Marco Tamayo.

Programme:

Prelude, Fugue and Allegro BWV 998 – J.S. Bach (arr. M. Tamayo)

Variaciones op. 45, sobre la Folia de España – M. Giuliani

Valse sentimentale op. 51, no. 6 – P.I. Tchaikovsky (arr. M. Tamayo)
Vals op.8 no. 4 – A. Barrios Mangoré

Cappricci XIII and XVII, originally for violin – N. Paganini (arr. M. Tamayo)

— Interval —

Air, 4th movement from the Holberg Suite op. 40 – E. Grieg (arr. M. Tamayo)

Chivo que rompe tambó – Bola de Nieve (Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández), arr. M Tamayo

Tarantella – M.C. Tedesco

La Catedral – A. Barrios Mangoré

Bio

Marco Tamayo, a Cuban guitarist with Austrian citizenship, has earned the title “Il Re della Chitarra” (The King of the Guitar) and has maintained an international reputation in all aspects of classical guitar.

Recently appointed Professor of Classical Guitar at the Universität der Künste Berlin (UDK), Tamayo is a winner of more than 25 major international competitions. Notable among these are the International Guitar Competition Michele Pittaluga in Alessandria, Italy, the Andrés Segovia International Guitar Competition in Spain, the Nikita Koshkin International Guitar Competition in Austria, and the Leo Brouwer International Guitar Competition in Havana, Cuba.

As a renowned soloist, Tamayo regularly collaborates with chamber music ensembles, performing a vast and stylistically diverse repertoire. He also serves as a president of jury panels and organises guitar festivals, having gained considerable experience from a young age. More recently, his interest in composition has led him to create new works for the guitar.

Tamayo began playing guitar at the age of three, was hailed as a prodigy at six, and embarked on his first international tour in Europe at just ten years old, performing in Germany (former DDR) and Bulgaria.

His extensive teaching career includes professorships at Sydney University in Australia, the Gustav Mahler Privat Universität in Austria, the Mozarteum University of Arts in Salzburg, Austria, and the Academy of Arts in Gdańsk, Poland. Most recently, he was selected from over 400 applicants to join the UDK Berlin faculty, where his class attracts guitarists from around the world, many of whom have become prominent performers.

Tamayo’s influential book, Essential Principles for the Interpretation on the Classical Guitar, has reshaped classical guitar pedagogy globally.

He has served as the Artistic Director of the Michele Pittaluga International Guitar Competition since 1999, the year he won the competition, and he founded the Klagenfurt International Guitar Competition and Festival in Austria, which ran until 2020. Tamayo is also an Honorary Citizen of the cities of Solero and Alessandria, Italy.

Currently, Tamayo performs on a guitar built by American luthier Stephen Connor and is a Savarez artist, using Cantiga Premium-Alliance/Blue strings. He is the Chairman of Marco Tamayo Edition, a publishing house he founded in 2014. In 2024, he launched his latest project, Tamayo’s Masterclasses, an online platform designed to share his knowledge through performances and analyses of famous and foundational guitar works.

November 2024 Meetup
2024-11-14 19:30 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Early Slot 7.30 – 8.15: Solos
Solos (Optional) theme for the solos this month: Baroque Night

First Session 8.20-9.00pm
Ensemble

Second Session 9.15-10.00pm
Ensemble

October 2024 Meetup and Paul Gregory
2024-10-10 19:30 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Early Slot 7.30 – 7.55pm
Solos
(Optional) theme for the solos this month: Music from Spain
First Session 8-9.00pm
Ensemble

Second Session 9.15-10.00pm – Visiting Artist lecture
Visiting Artist: Paul Gregory from Maestoso Music.

Paul’s talk will be:
So what do you really want from a guitar?
A discourse on how instruments differ (old and new) and what they can offer the player, with musical examples.

September 2024 Meetup and Arthur Keegan
2024-09-12 19:30 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Early Slot 7.30 – 7.55
Solos
(Optional) theme for the solos this month: 21st century composition
First Session 8-9.00pm
Ensemble

Second Session 9.15-10.00pm: Visiting Artist Performance
Visiting Artist: Arthur Keegan: Wessex songs.
Music for guitar and voice project on poetry by Thomas Hardy.
Arthur is a Bristol-based composer. LPO, BSO Philarmonia commissioned.

Hear the album The Past & I:100 Years of Thomas Hardy on Spotify

Berta Rojas Masterclasses and visit
2024-08-25 10:00 - 17:00 | Hewish and Puxton Village Hall, Maysgreen Ln, Hewish, Somerset, BS24 6RW, United Kingdom
We’re really excited that Berta Rojas, our society’s Patron, is coming to visit us on 25th August 2024 to meet our members and offer the opportunity for masterclasses on the day!
This year Berta is a guest and concert artist at the West Dean Guitar Summer School near Chichester from 17 – 22 Aug 2024. Additionally, Berta will be giving a concert there on Mon 19 Aug at 8pm. If you wish to see the concert then tickets are available at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/westdeansussexevents/1173765.
Unfortunately, we are unable to hold a BCGS concert with Berta this year. However, we are taking advantage of the fact that Berta is in the UK to hold a workshop and masterclasses with members from the BCGS and WAGO on Sunday 25 Aug 2024.
The visit of Berta to BCGS/WAGO will take place at the Hewish & Puxton Village Hall (near Weston-super-Mare and the home of WAGO) on Sunday 25 Aug 2024 from 10am to 4pm. There is easy car access and free parking available at the village hall. Free Wifi is also available.
The timetable for the day is as follows:

10:00 WAGO Workshop
11:15 coffee break
11:45 WAGO workshop
13:00 Lunch (an opportunity to chat to Berta) – a full lunch is only available to WAGO members – drinks and snacks to others will be available.
14:00 BCGS/WAGO Masterclasses (includes a short coffee break)
16:00 Close (the hall is available until 5pm if we get more masterclass
candidates)

BCGS members are invited to attend as a spectator for some or all of the day (including the WAGO workshop), and/or to take part in a Masterclass with Berta. You do not have to consider yourself as a master guitarists to have a masterclass, or have learnt a really challenging piece of music, but you should have something reasonably well prepared whatever the difficulty of the music. Better to think of the masterclass as a short public lesson with a great concert guitarist, than some master performance by yourself.
We also welcome members of the general public as spectators (£10).
There will be a small cost to those who attend, dependent on what part an individual intends to undertake during the day:

To attend all, or some of the day as a spectator, is £10 (includes coffee, tea, snacks etc). This is open to BCGS members, their guests, and the general public.
To play in a 20 min masterclass with Berta £30. If you pay for a masterclass then you will not be charged the £10 to spectate for any other parts of the day. Masterclass slots are only available for WAGO and BCGS members.
You may bring guests with you who are not BCGS members, but they too will need to pay £10 to observe.

If you’d like to attend, either as an audience member or take part in the masterclass, please let
Vince know as soon as possible. He needs to plan the timetable, manage costs, and supply refreshments!

August 2024 Meetup
2024-08-08 19:30 - 22:30 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Early Slot 7.30 – 7.55pm: Member’s Talk
Vince Smith: Thinking about Sight Reading

First Session 8-9.00pm
Ensemble

Second Session 9.15-10.00pm
Solos
(Optional) theme for the solos this month: “The Rest of the World” Showcase. We hear so much music from West European, North American, and Latin American composers. So this month, play something from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Polynesia, anywhere but the usuals!

2024 Members' Summer Concert
2024-07-11 19:30 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Please come along to support our members!
Get the pdf programme here.

BCGS — Members’ Summer Concert Programme
Carry Me Home by Simon Powis
Cari, Peter
Água e Vinho by Egberto Gismonti (b: 1947), arr. Assad
Cari, Thorben
Farewell to Stromness by Peter Maxwell Davies (1934—2016) arr. Raymond Burley
Cari, Thorben, Peter
Danza Del Altiplano by Leo Brouwer (b: 1939)

Andy Fagan
Despite the Falling Snow from Winterbourne Preludes by Stephen Goss (b: 1964)
Alan Montague
A Day in November by Leo Brouwer (b: 1939)
Steve Watson
In my Life by Lennon & McCartney (1940-1980, b:1942)
Tony Lewis
Somewhere & Maria by Leonard Bernstein (1918—1990)
Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla (1921—1992)
Tony Lewis and Tim Rigley
– – – – – – 20 Minute Intermission – – – – – –
Wine, juice, or water is available
Lute Concerto in D (Adagio) by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Vince & Tony Mulholland
Flow My Tears by John Dowland (1563-1626)
Rosemary’s Sister by Huw & Tony Williams
Tony Mulholland, Sarah, Vince
Classical Gas by Mason Williams (b: 1938)
Mario Toner-Reece
Sevilla by Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
Paul Bradshaw
Sonidos de Aquel Día by Quique Sinesi (b: 1960)
Kurt Tipler
Romance from Lieutenant Kije by Sergei Prokoviev (1891—1953)
St Paul’s Suite : Jig by Gustav Holst (1874—1934)
BCGS Ensemble

June 2024 Meetup
2024-06-13 19:30 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Early Slot 7.30 – 7.55 pm – Member’s Talk
Nick Regan: “The Moods of Key Signatures”

First Session 8-9.00pm
Ensemble

Second Session 9.15-10.00pm
Solos
(Optional) theme for the solos this month: A modern etude (20th or 21st century). Think Villa-Lobos, Brouwer, Garcia, Nuttall…

May 2024 Meetup and Luke Bartlett
2024-05-09 19:30 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Early Slot 7.30 – 7.55
Solos
(Optional) theme for the solos this month: Latin America

First Session 8-9.00pm
Ensemble

Second Session 9.15-10.00pm
Recital by rising star Luke Bartlett, IGF Young Artist 2024 and Julian Bream Trust scholar

Giacomo Susani - BCGS Concert Series 2024
2024-04-20 19:30 - 21:30 | Saint Stephens Church, 21 St Stephen’s Street, Bristol, Bristol, BS1 1EQ, United Kingdom
BCGS CONCERT SERIES 2024
“He is a guitarist with myriad colours and bold sensitivity”
BBC Music Magazine
Giacomo Susani’s work both in the field of performance and of composition places him into a unique and versatile role in the world of music. His interest in exploring the creative possibilities of his instrument allowed him to develop a personal approach to interpretation that is met with enthusiasm internationally.
As a guitarist he conducts a busy performing career across Europe and is the winner of several prestigious awards, among which the New York Respighi Prize in Composition in 2022 and the London International Guitar Competition in 2016 stand out. He has been an artist supported and represented by The Julian Bream Trust, The Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Park Lane Group and the City Music Foundation.
As a composer his music has been played and recorded all around the world, by such artists as Grammy Award winners David Russell and Jason Vieaux and Creu de Sant Jordi awardee Stefano Grondona, and it has received critical acclaim on international reviews. For the label Stradivarius he recorded two solo albums: “Giacomo Susani plays Petrassi, Bach, Tansman, Weiss” (2015) and “Gebeth. Romantic music for Guitar. Mertz, Regondi” (2018), which both received audience acclaim and critic recognition in important musical and guitar reviews (“Classical Guitar Magazine”, “BBC Music”, “Gendai Guitar”, “Il Fronimo”, “Amadeus”, “American Record Guide”).
Giacomo was a guitar teacher at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music (London) from 2019 to 2023, is currently artistic director of the “Homenaje” International Guitar Festival (Padova) and co-artistic director and teacher of the Residenze Erranti.
He studied guitar with Stefano Grondona in Italy and Micheal Lewin in England, composition with Michele Brugnaro, Francesco Antonioni and Stephen Goss. Between 2014 and 2018 he had the privilege of working closely with Julian Bream, as the recipient of the Julian Bream Trust Scholarship and as of 2023 he studies conducting with Gilberto Serembe at the Italian Conducting Academy.
In 2022 and 2023 respectively he was awarded two Golden Guitars by the “Convegno Internazionale di Chitarra di Milano”. He is a D’Addario artist.
https://www.giacomosusani.com/
“Among the most interesting names of today’s Guitar”
Amadeus
Programme
F. Sor
Sonata op.15
G Susani
Fantasia in Forma Lirica (Omaggio a Pasolini)
M. Pasieczny
Tate Sonata
– Ad un tratto
– Furioso
– Ostinato
– Variations and finale
INTERVAL
G. F. Handel
Simple Fugue in D Major (arr. G. Susani)
G. Susani
Dialogo (Omaggio a Lauro)
S. Goss
Pierrot, or Harlequin?
M. Ravel
Menuet sur le nom de Haydn (arr. G. Susani)
G. Susani
The Blue Madeleine
– Familiar Dreams
– Arioso
– Aria
– Cypresses

April 2024 Meetup and Stephen Goss
2024-04-11 19:30 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Early Slot 7.30 – 7.55
Solos
(Optional) theme for the solos this month: A piece by a British Composer

First Session 8-9.00pm
Ensemble

Second Session 9.15-10.00pm – Visiting Artist
Stephen Goss Talk: “The delusion of urtext”: Are we taking music too literally?

Short Recital: Better Call Duo
2024-03-14 21:15 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
As part of the March monthly meetup, Italian Duo “Better Call Duo” (Chieko and Stefano) will give a recital in the third slot (21:15 – 22:00).
Better Call Duo have won more than 20 International Competitions, and given over 2000 concerts all over the world in prestigious festivals and halls. In addition to international TV and radio broadcasts, they’ve recorded for important recording label including Brilliant Classics, Bridge Records NY, Nuova Era, EdiPan, Rivo Alto, Sonic View, Niccolò, Guitart Collection, Da Vinci Classics.
Programme available here.
Non-members are also welcome to attend! Tickets £7, payable on the night at the hall (card accepted) or available to purchase at https://buytickets.at/bristolclassicalguitarsociety/1178933 (BCGS Members free)
https://www.bettercallduo.com

March 2024 Meetup and Better Call Duo
2024-03-14 19:30 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Early Slot 7.30 – 7.55
Solos
(Optional) theme for the solos this month: Classical and Early Romantic Etude. Play an Etude by a composer like Sor, Carcassi, Carulli, Giuliani, Aguado, Diabelli, Regondi… if it says study, estudio or etude, play it!

First Session 8-9.00pm
Ensemble

Second Session 9.15-10.00pm – Visiting Artist Short Recital
better-call-duo-programme.pdf
Better Call Duo

Feburary 2024 Meetup
2024-02-08 19:30 - 22:00 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Early Slot 7.30 – 7.55 Member’s Talk
Cari Aplin: Luise Walker

First Session 8-9.00pm
Ensemble

Second Session 9.15-10.00pm
Solos

January 2024 Meetup and AGM
2024-01-11 19:30 - 22:30 | Unitarian Meeting Hall, Unitarian Meeting Hall, Brunswick Square, Bristol, Bristol, BS2 8PE, United Kingdom
Early Slot 7.40 – 7.55
Solos

First Session 8-9.00pm
Ensemble (see email from Francisco about the new Prokofiev piece — please bring your part along!)

Second Session 9.15-10.30pm
AGM

Members, please try to make it for the AGM – shape the future of your society!
