On this page you will be able to read a little about the fabulous guitarists that I play with - Tiago Gomes and Andrey Lebedev
Tiago Gomes
Portuguese classical guitarist Tiago Gomes is an international performer, who recently graduated with a Post-Graduate Diploma from the Royal College of Music. His repertoire presents a wide variety, from transcriptions of Bach Suites to 20th century music with pieces such as Britten's Nocturnal. Tiago plays a 2008 concert guitar specially made for him by the world renowned Spanish luthier, Paco Santiago Marin.
Gomes began studying the guitar at the Academia de Música de Vilar do Paraíso, obtaining the highest mark in his final exam. In 2011, he graduated with Honours from the Royal Academy of Music, where he also received the Academy’s teaching diploma – Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music – one year before.
Tiago has won a number of prizes in national and international competitions, including the Concurso Internacional Cidade do Fundão 2007, Concurso Santa Cecília 2007, Prémio Helena Sá e Costa 2007, Concurso Nacional de Guitarra de Ourém, IV Concurso de Guitarra de S. João da Madeira.
Gomes has performed in Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Russia, France and the UK, in venues such as The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. He has also participated in various masterclasses led by well-known guitarists such as Alberto Ponce, Roland Dyens, Fábio Zanon, David Russell, amongst others.
Tiago has performed within various small chamber groups including flute, violin or voice, playing a varied repertoire from Dowland’s songs to Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango. He has also performed Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Weill’s Die Dreigroschenoper with Orquestra do Norte and Royal Academy Opera, respectively.
Between 2000 and 2007, Gomes was a member of the Academia de Música de Vilar do Paraíso’s Guitar Orchestra with whom he performed at the European Music Festival for Youth Neerpelt (First Prize 2001 and First Prize Cum Laude 2002) and First Gofi Contest Bad-Neuheim – Frankfurt (First Prize). In Portugal, the Orchestra performed extensively in venues such as Europarque, Coliseu do Porto, Casa da Música, and Casa das Artes. They also toured in St. Petersburg (Russia) and Paris (France) and recorded three CDs: Cordas Soltas, Comntrastes and Plaisir.
Future projects include a Guitar & Violin duo performing a varied repertoire from Paganini to contemporary composers like Celso Machado; and a Fado de Coimbra trio where Gomes will explore the "saudade" in this Portuguese music style.
Andrey Lebedev
Andrey Lebedev is an acclaimed Australian classical guitarist with an insatiable curiosity to explore new avenues of music making.
He is the laureate of top international competitions including the 2017 ARD Competition and the 2017 Guitar Foundation of America. In 2014, he was the first young guitarist invited by Julian Bream to perform for Julian Bream Trust, premiering Trust commissions by Harrison Birtwistle and Leo Brouwer at St Johns Smith Square. Acclaimed interpreter of contemporary music, he has had new works written for him by Brett Dean, Leo Brouwer and Peter Sculthorpe, and was awarded the Prize for the Best Interpretation of the Commissioned Piece at ARD. Equally at home with early repertoire, he was awarded First Prize and special Bach Prize at the Gisborne International Music Competition for his transcription of J.S. Bach’s D Minor Violin Partita, and performs regularly with singers as an accompanist on lute and guitar. Performances at the Hong Kong Altamira International Guitar Symposium (China), Cultura Artistica Serie de Violao (Brazil), Dark Mofo Festival (Australia), and Buxton International Festival (UK), are a testament to his versatility as an artist of exceptional calibre.
Lebedev started playing guitar at seven in Adelaide, Australia inspired by his father musing in the evenings. He grew up playing classical guitar through the South Australian Young Guitar Ensemble, jazz guitar in the SA Youth Superband, and rock music in scratch bands at school, but became enamored with classical music after receiving a Glenn Gould CD as a teenager.
Although rooted in a love for music of the classical tradition, Lebedev has found himself pushing the boundaries of the repertoire and seeking to connect his diverse musical interests. Lebedev’s programs often included new or lesser-known contemporary works, and as well working with the aforementioned composers, he has given first performances of music by Tim Moriarty, Gerard Brophy, Jeffrey Holmes, Howard Skempton, and Samuel Smith. More recently he has been composing his own music, and arranging for ensembles.
Andrey Lebedev has performed concertos with orchestras in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the UK. As a solo recitalist he has performed at venues including the Wigmore Hall (supported by the Tillett Trust), St John Smith Square (supported by the Julian Bream Trust), Croatian Music Institute, The Sage Gateshead, City Recital Hall, Kings’s Place, and Turner Sims, amongst others.
He founded a contemporary music septet during his studies at RAM, and has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Royal Academy of Music String Orchestra, the Boccherini Trio, Tambuco Percussion, the Manson Ensemble, violinist Emily Sun, pianist Joseph Havlat, guitarist Sean Shibe, and guitarist Aleksandr Tsiboulski.
Lebedev is a First Prize winner of the Adelaide International Guitar Competition, was the first classical guitarist to receive the Australian National Fine Music ‘Young Performer of the Year’ Award, and the only classical guitarist to win the Sydney Eisteddfod Instrumental Scholarship. He completed postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music under Michael Lewin where he graduated with a Regency Award for notable achievement, the Academy’s David Russell Guitar Prize, and Recital Diploma. He gained his BMus degree with first-class honours at the Australian National University in 2012 under Timothy Kain.
Andrey’s studies have been generously supported by the ABRSM, Julian Bream Trust, Australian Music Foundation, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Tait Memorial Trust, and South Australian Government through the Carclew Board. He has been selected by the Tillett Trust, Countess of Munster Musical Trust and International Guitar Foundation for their ongoing ‘Young Artist’ schemes and became a City Music Foundation Artist in 2015.