Classical Guitar News & Updates

Just Arrived: A new 2021 Achim Peter Gropius double top classical guitar. German master guitar maker Achim Gropius is one of Europe's premiere makers of fine individually handmade classical guitars. His signature sound is warm, very focused, powerful, and round - smooth dense trebles, mid range, and bass with impressive depth of sound. This concert guitar responds particularly fast to both subtle and large changes in color and attack...
Join Us: Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival May 21 - June 18.

Colin Davin (USA), guitar
[He is a] player with a virtuoso's technique, a deeply expressive musicianship, and a probing imagination. (American Record Guide)

Robert Gruca (USA), guitar
Robert Gruca is a brilliant player with gorgeous tone and a flawless sense of rhythm. (Audaud.com)

Drew Henderson (Canada), guitar
Drew is an amazing guitarist, recording engineer, and video producer. (This is Classical Guitar)

Ji Yeon Kim (Republic of Korea), guitar
Talented, sensitive...brilliant... (Calgary Herald)

Daniel Lippel (USA), guitar
Guitarist Dan Lippel was simply brilliant, knowing exactly when to thrust above the string quartet and when to melt into its textures. (Boston Musical Intelligencer)

Duo Melis (Spain and Greece), guitars
Duo Melis' playing was technically superb, musically convincing, and demonstrated fantastic ensemble. (Soundboard)

Nigel North (England), lute - Gramophone Award Winner
Perhaps he is the greatest performer on his instrument of all time.... (Birmingham Post)

Petra Polácková (Czech Republic), guitar
[Her] playing was so technically secure and musically insightful, it was unimaginable that anything she played could possibly be difficult. (Cleveland Classical)

James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition (USA), guitars
Four Finalists will perform and awards will be announced.

Farewell sweet prince: John Holmquist - wonderful human being, one of the world's truly great artist/musician/classical guitarists, teacher, husband, father, and cherished friend to many...
JUST ARRIVED: 2020 Joshia de Jonge Anniversary Model double top classical guitar. This exceptional concert instrument is a magnificent example of refined musicality, materials, and craft - simply put, a singular masterpiece. The concert guitars of master guitar maker Joshia de Jonge combine northern European traditional tonal beauty with the quick response and laser-like projection of the most successful, innovative contemporary guitars...




NEW: Crossrock carbon fiber classical guitar flight case. This sleek, high impact resistant flight case is both very strong and very light due to its 100% carbon fiber hard shell. The entire case weighs only 5.5 pounds. Its plush padded interior includes a full body perimeter suspension system which provides further protection against drops and blows: All but the outer edge of a guitar's back floats above the case bottom while much of a guitar's soundboard floats below the case top...
Join
Grammy Winner JASON VIEAUX (USA)
CIM Co-Head COLIN DAVIN (USA)
In a Live Stream Concert

BACH ON THE GUITAR

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2020
2:00 p.m. US Eastern Time / 11 a.m. US Pacific Time
8 p.m. Central European Time

Purchase Tickets HERE.

All ticket proceeds in their entirety
benefit the artists.

NEW: 2020 Jeffrey R. Elliott (USA) Custom Concert Guitar. The classical guitars of Jeffrey R. Elliott are exceptional works of musical art - magnificent concert guitars possessing unsurpassed musical refinement, purity and beauty of sound: quick powerful warm singing trebles, firm deep resonant basses, a particularly broad palette of colors and evenness of sound. These much sought after instruments are also among the rarest of the rare contemporary concert guitars...
Congratulations to classical guitarist Petra Polácková (Czech Republic) on the  release of her long awaited, much anticipated, musically extraordinary all Weiss debut C.D. You can order "WEISS" at guitar@petrapolackova.com

Learn more about Petra Polácková...
Review: Colin Davin & Jason Vieaux in a live online recital (June 6, 2020) -
Published on ClevelandClassical.com by Daniel Hathaway

After weeks of watching online streams of archived concerts and ad hoc performances from quarantined musicians’ living rooms and bedrooms, it was thrilling to be able to advertise, preview, and report on two real-time webcasts last Friday and Saturday that embraced high production values and addressed the persistent issue of how to compensate musicians for online services. Saturday afternoon’s joint recital by Colin Davin and Jason Vieaux was sponsored by the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, whose 2020 iteration, scheduled for that weekend at the Cleveland Institute of Music, vanished in the wake of the pandemic...
Just arrived. New 2020 Alfredo Velazquez classical guitar. Alfredo Velazquez endows his classical guitars with both the elegant tonal qualities for which his father’s guitars are revered and the extended dynamic range sought by many contemporary performing artists. Alfredo Velazquez’s classic guitars are sought world wide for their deep, soulful, unusually pure tonal beauty, strong woody fundamental tones, excellent balance up and down and across the fingerboard, easy playability, beautiful physical symmetry, and superb materials and workmanship,,.
Expected this April: A pre-owned, one owner, custom Jeffrey R. Elliott spruce/CSA classical guitar. The classical guitars of Jeffrey R. Elliott are exceptional works of art - magnificent concert guitars possessing unsurpassed musical refinement, purity and beauty of sound: quick powerful warm singing trebles, firm deep resonant basses, a particularly broad palette of colors and evenness of sound. These much sought after instruments are also among the rarest of the rare contemporary concert guitars. Jeffrey Elliott closed his then fifteen year waiting list a number of years ago. We have been waiting for this particular guitar for more than eighteen years...
Just Arrived: A new satinwood/spruce Torres Homage by English master guitar maker Gary Southwell. Regarding this guitar's elegant concert voice: There is not much one can or probably should attempt to write about such a refined musical spectrum of color, dynamics, and articulation except that this instrument's deep smooth sound is exceptional in every way - play, listen carefully, enjoy...

Just Arrived: A new Daniele Chiesa (Spain) cedar top classical guitar. Chiesa's remarkably responsive cedar guitars are among the finest traditionally braced cedar top guitars it has been our pleasure to play or hear. Their lovely sound is warm, deep, somewhat darker than a spruce top guitar, but retains the broad color palette normally associated with a fine spruce instrument; these guitars are also quick to respond to a wide variety of right hand attacks. Add to these qualities wonderful depth and balance of sound, and a comfortable neck contour, and you have what we consider to be the finest value in an exceptional, world class, truly individually handcrafted concert guitar from Spain...
Just Arrived: A mint condition, as new, Gary Southwell (England) A Series classical guitar. This is Southwell's very impressive sounding innovative modern concert guitar. Its warm, round, very powerful, unusually pure, clear sound has its roots in 19th century antecedents such as Lacote and Panormo; however, its warmth, breadth of color, dynamic range and richness of sound are all twenty-first century.Acoustically this concert guitar benefits significantly from the maker's years of work with Julian Bream on the reproduction of the Rose Augustine Hauser I guitar...
Just Arrived: A pre-owned Cervantes (Mexico) P.E. Hauser high end student model classical guitar. This is a cleanly made, mint, as new, one owner instrument imported from Mexico by Alejandro Cervantes. The musical sound of this guitar is round, clear, responsive, and even in all registers. The neck contour and string action set up are very comfortable. In sum this guitar at this price represents a great value in a truly handmade (non-factory), high end, student model classical guitar...
20th annual Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. Please join us in welcoming this spring’s roster of world renowned artists and the James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition semi-finalists in a concentrated series of concerts, premieres, master classes, private lessons, lectures, and exhibits celebrating the classical guitar and art music: solo and ensemble, old and new. Featured artists include...

Petra Polácková performs J.S. Bach's Chaconne in her new Guitars International H.D. video. A musician's musician, Petra Polácková began her classical guitar studies at the age of six. Since 2002 she has won six first prizes in international competitions and performed both solo and ensemble concerts to enormous critical acclaim. As a result of her competition and concert successes she has been invited to perform and teach at many of the world's most prestigious music festivals...
Just Arrived: A deluxe Stauffer reproduction by renowned German master Bernhard Kresse. Over his long, distinguished career Kresse has acquired an extensive knowledge of 19th century guitar making traditions - both by examining and restoring original instruments in his Cologne workshop and by conducting extensive research in museums and private collections throughout Europe. Kresse reproductions are performed on by Duo Melis, Alvaro Pierri, Raphaella Smits, Pavel Steidl, and many more...
Check Out Our High Definition Performance Videos: Proceeds monetized by these classical guitar performance videos support the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival © - a non-profit organization that raises funds for concerts, master classes, lectures, and exhibitions pertaining to the classical guitar...
Just Arrived: A custom concert guitar by Eric Monrad one of the finest makers practicing the art of lutherie today. This guitar's elegant, very powerful sound possess both the clarity of an exceptional maple guitar and the warmth and body of an outstanding rosewood guitar. Expect quick round sparkling trebles, firm basses, wonderful depth and evenness of sound, excellent playability, exquisite materials, and workmanship which ranks with the finest in the world...
Just Arrived: Joshia de Jonge double top classical guitar; magnificent large, clear, musical sound; cedar/Nomex/cedar double top construction with Joshia de Jonge's proprietary all wood grid pattern bracing system; elevated fingerboard with twentieth fret under strings 1,2, and 3...
19th Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival: June 6-9, 2019, at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Join us in welcoming this spring’s roster of internationally renowned artists in a concentrated series of recitals, premieres, master classes, private lessons, lectures, and exhibits celebrating the classical guitar and art music: solo and ensemble, old and new.  Festival events are open to guitarists of all ages and levels and to non-guitarists. Many events are free.

This spring's Festival features: 12 Participating Artists and Ensembles, 5 Concerts, 3 Premiere Performances, 9 Master Classes, 2 Youth Ensemble Performances, 3 Lectures, 1 Guitar Demonstration Concert, 1 Guitar Exhibit, 1 Master Class Performers' Reception and Breakfast, 4 After Concert Dinners, Private Lessons, and more....
Just Arrived: A new custom Gregory R. Miller concert guitar: This magnificent guitar has impressive reserves of power. It is also quick to project the quietest, most delicate pianissimos. Its  smooth, creamy trebles and deep basses are round, clear, and obligingly responsive to a wide range of color and attack. Its fundamental tones are rock solid in all registers while being beautifully complemented by rich, well controlled overtones. As a result, this guitar's perfectly balanced sound sparkles up and down and across the fingerboard. Voice separation is excellent as is harmonic blending...
Just Arrived: A rare, lovely sounding and looking 2008 Simon Ambridge Series 40 classical guitar. The warm, clear, seasoned sound and easy playability of this guitar are in every way superb.A connoisseur's guitar maker, Simon Ambridge crafts among the finest projecting, traditionally braced, musically refined classical guitars in the world today...
Just Arrived: A beautiful new 2018 spruce/Madagascar Daniele Chiesa concert guitar. While the sound of Chiesa's instruments is warm, sweet, round and clear (the Italian influence perhaps), Chiesa's powerful concert guitars also embody the alluring sonic richness so characteristic of the finest Granada makers. The result: the Italian and Granada influences, and a great deal of individual talent here make for an exceptionally rewarding musical experience for player and listener alike. Chiesa's illustrious clients include Vladimir Gorbach (2011 GFA International Competition Winner), Sanja Plohl, Oscar Ghiglia, Dmitry Murin, Ivan Murin, Kuzma Filimonov, Tom Van de Venne, Herman Schamp, Ljubica Bukvic, André Gross, and Floria Nica...