Paul Galbraith Concert Information

On Monday, April 22, 2002 at 8:00 PM one of Brazil's finest guitarists will play a concert on the Classical Guitar at the All Saints Episcopal Church on 1710 South Foothill Drive in Salt Lake City. This concert is part of the 2001-2002 Guitar Master Series, and is jointly supported by a grant from the Utah Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C.

Season tickets are available for $35 per person. Ticket prices at the door will be $15. Student tickets are $10. Call 531-7066 for additional information.

Paul Galbraith Bio

Galbraith first won public acclaim in Great Britain when at the age of 17 his performance at the Segovia International Guitar Competition won him the Silver Medal. Segovia, who was present for the competition, called his playing "magnificent" This award helped launch an international career including engagements with some of the finest orchestras in Britain and Europe (Royal Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, BBC Philharmonic, Scottish Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Orchestra, Scottish Baroque Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra among them).

He toured the U.S. as soloist with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and performed in PragueÕ's Dvor‡k Hall with the National Chamber Orchestra of Chile. His international touring has also brought him to Canada, Spain, Italy, Greece, Norway, Hungary, Brazil, China, India and Iceland.

Galbraith's unique playing position was first revealed at the Edinburgh Festival in 1989. His guitar (designed in collaboration with luthier David Rubio) has two extra strings, one high, one low, and is supported by a metal endpin (similar to that of a cello) which rests on a wooden resonance box. Both the guitar's extraordinary design, and Galbraith's playing style, are considered groundbreaking development in the history of the instrument and its performance practice, increasing the guitar's expressive range to an unprecedented extent. His principal teacher, since 1983, has been the Greek conductor, pianist and philosopher George Hadjinikos.

Born in Scotland, Galbraith has lived in Malawi, Greece, London, and, currently, Säo Paulo, Brazil.

Paul Galbraith's double CD of the Complete Solo Bach Violin Sonatas and Partitas on Delo was nominated for a 1998 GRAMMY AWARD in the category of Best Solo Instrumental Album. This recording was also chosen as one of the two best CDs of 1998 by Gramophone Magazine, which called it "a landmark in the history of guitar recordings. It received a "Four Star" rating in Stereo Review, and reached the TOP 10 of the classical charts in Billboard. In 1999-2000, Galbraith was featured on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and "Performance Today".

He made his New York début at the Frick Collection, receiving a rave review in the New York Times; a subsequent NY engagement on Lincoln Center's "Great Performances" series was sold out. He was featured at the Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver and Carmel Bach Festivals, and performed in Washington DC, Cleveland, Portland, Seattle, Miami, Baltimore, and Milwaukee.

Upcoming appearances in the U.S. include concertos with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Santa Rosa Symphony, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, and many others; recital invitations will bring him to New York City, Boston, Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Boulder. In addition, tours of Great Britain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands are among Mr. Galbraith's activities in 2000-2001.

He also tours extensively with the Brazilian Guitar Quartet, of which he is a founding member. Together with the St. Petersburg String Quartet he has commissioned a guitar quintet by the acclaimed Georgian composer Zurab Nadarejshvili, which will receive its world premiere in 2001-2002. He performs as guest artist with the Shanghai String Quartet in summer 2000.

Galbraith's most recent CDs on Delos are the Bach Lute Suites and Paul Galbraith Plays Haydn (featuring Galbraith's arrangements of four keyboard sonatas). Forthcoming in 2000 is a CD of Bach concertos with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra.

Paul Galbraith Concert Reviews

The New York Times

"The highlight of his recital . . . was a gracefully phrased, beautifully balanced account of Haydn's Piano Sonata No.46 . . . (His guita's) sonic benefits include a deep, almost lutelike bass sound and a more general lushness throughout the instrument's range . . . Mr. Galbraith also gave clean, texturally transparent accounts of Bach's Prelude, Fugue and Allegro and the Second Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin. His ornaments had a keyboard-like crispness, and in the fugues of both works he kept the individual musical strands nicely separated. He also brought imagination and coloristic variety to two Greek works . . ."

The Oregonian

"Exceptional artistry." -The New Yorker "Galbraith . . . showed just how gorgeously the guitar can sing . . . Galbraith's satiny smooth technique . . . conjured both the solid ring of the harpsichord and the breathy sweetness of the flute, spun out with a vocal agility, a rainbow range of tonal colors and textures. Galbraith consistently sustained voicing of intense purity, crispness of ornamentation and jewel-like sonorities. At the same time, he preserved the finger-to-string textures that are so integral a part of the guitar's dynamic expression."

Santa Barbara News-Press

"Pure magic . . . Two short pieces by John Dowland were long enough to refocus one's attention on Galbraith's incredible soft dynamics . . . Even more revelatory was Galbraith's transcription of Haydn's Sonata for Keyboard No.46. The transparency of Galbraith's playing opened up new aspects of Haydn's classicism; even so routine a technique as parallel thirds took on a new freshness. If Galbraith's arrangement and playing didnπt exceed the range of Haydn's keyboard original, it certainly surpassed it in beauty."

Guitar Review

"A sense of excitement and curiosity prevailed among the gathering crowd (at Paul Galbraith's New York début at the Frick Collection). . . After all, there was much to anticipate . . . From the beginning . . . it was clear that Mr. Galbraith's technique was not a gimmick, but a tool to create music. His phrasing was superbly clear and executed with ease . . . Of particular note were his unbelabored trills, which possessed fluidity and sparkle, seeming to float on top of the music . . . Playing the faster movements with a dazzling ferocity and the slower ones with an introspective, thoughtful elegance (Skalkottas' Sonata Op.1) was a showcase for Paul Galbraith's ability both as a guitarist and as a musician. . . The different textures (in Haydn's Keyboard Sonata No.46) as well as the ambitious modulations were performed with an ease that might not have been possible on a standard guitar. In fact, at times the voices were so clearly defined that it sounded as though a keyboardist were playing . . . a memorable and musically convincing concert."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The concert classical guitar took its present form about 150 years ago. The next step in the instrument's evolution might have been heard Friday night (at Wisconsin Lutheran College) . . . Galbraith is not merely an innovator, but a musician of enormous skill and insight . . . utterly convincing."

San Jose Mercury News

"Dexterity is not the half of it; the man is an extraordinary musician. His performance of the Vivaldi Concerto in D major (with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra) made familiar music uncommonly tender and uncommonly clear."

The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal

"Sitting in a shaft of light in a pitch-black concert hall, Galbraith glowed with dexterity and genius . . . one of the premier living classic guitarists . . . he chose for each note a particular dynamic and intention. His technique was simply awesome. An audience that sat rapt for two hours under Galbraith's spell demanded an encore."

The Guardian (U.K.)

"Worth traveling long distances to hear."

Birmingham Post (U.K.)

"It is not too often that a solo instrumental recital confounds one's expectations, both visually and aurally, but that is exactly what Paul Galbraith's recital achieved last night in the Adrian Boult Hall . . . an unprecedented richness of sound and clarity, enabling the smallest pianissimo to emerge clearly . . . his clear articulation of contrapuntal lines in three Dowland Fantasias and J.S. Bach's Sonata No.2 for Violin Solo BWV 1003 was exemplary. This player's control (and wide application) of tone colour was fully revealed in an exquisite reading of Haydn's Piano Sonata Hob. 46 . . . an uncommonly intimate and musically stimulating evening."

The Scotsman

"Playing of mind-boggling brilliance . . . His technique is breathtaking, yet at no time was it in any way more important than the music. His Bach is deeply felt and his technique allows those feelings to come across to us with a wonderful easiness."

Glasgow Herald

"Galbraith achieved a considerable feat in both transcribing and committing to memory Bach's six solo Sonatas and Partitas, and went on to play them with a real sense of having something to communicate in the music, rather than simply technical virtuosity . . . a luscious augmentation of instrumental sonority and colour made this concert a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Both Galbraith and his instrument have the potential to do remarkable things."

Philadelphia Inquirer

"He produced music of unusual color, richness and virtuosity."

Charleston (SC) Post and Courier

"To wind up Piccolo Spoleto's Fretwork series, Paul Galbraith performed a virtuoso guitar concert that held the sold-out audience in hushed concentration . . . extreme beauty of tone . . . at the end of the concert, audience members were lining up to by a CD of his music."

Classical Guitar

"The best guitarist of his generation."

The Sunday Times (London)

"What many had come to see and hear was the revolutionary change he has brought to playing the guitar . . . the results were truly remarkable, with an amazing clarity and a huge dynamic range I have never before heard from any guitarist. The audience was held spellbound."

Classical Guitar

"He has not only mastered his instrument technically but has the ability to gain access into its inner mysteries."

Classical Music

"Paul Galbraith has something near genius."

Classical Guitar

"On Tuesday evening in the Grand Hall I fell in love with a combination of artist, instrument and music. Pianissimos of the lightest delicacy contrasted with moments of almost awesome power. I've never heard anyone play like this. Galbraith seemed to have transcended technique and established a personal connection with an inner source allowing the music to communicate amazingly directly. Everything sounded like a masterpiece that evening."

The Scotsman

"His musicality is so 'authentic' that every note carries the hallmark of truth and academic notions of scholarship became superfluous. He held his audience in rapt silence as if spellbound by some magician."

CD Reviews (published on Internet)

"It is difficult to sum up the brilliance of Scotsman Paul Galbraith's artistry in such a restricted space. I first saw him perform in an intimate, stone chapel in Los Angeles last winter. He brought tears to the eyes of some . . . Sheer brilliance."