CHESTER GUITAR CIRCLE - Key Persons
Australian born guitarist Craig Ogden is one of the most exciting artists of his generation. He studied guitar from the age of seven and percussion from the age of thirteen. In 2004 he became the youngest instrumentalist to receive a Fellowship Award from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
One of the UK's most recorded guitarists his recordings for Virgin/EMI, Chandos, Nimbus, Hyperion, Sony and Classic FM have received wide acclaim. Craig's Classic FM albums The Guitarist and Summertime both shot straight to no.1 in the UK classical chart in summer 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Craig Ogden has performed concertos with all of the main UK orchestras plus many abroad in countries including Latvia, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and Australia. Within the last season he has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony
Craig Ogden regularly appears as soloist and chamber musician at the major London venues and collaborates regularly with many of the UK's top artists and ensembles. In 2008 he made his presenting debut on BBC Radio 3 in ‘The Segovia Legacy' co-presented by Louis de Bernières and in 2011 he also presented a series of interviews with artists including John Williams for ABC Classic FM (Australia). In December 2011 Craig also presented three short videos as part of an advertising campaign on Classic FM for Emirates Airline.
Craig Ogden is Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and Visiting Lecturer at London's Royal College of Music
At his Wigmore Hall debut one critic hailed Gerald Garcia as a ‘performer of rare quality'. '... Anyone interested in hearing the guitar at its best should put Gerald Garcia at the top of their list.'. He has toured the Far East and Europe including Australia, and was the first British guitarist to play in China in recent times. He has appeared at all the main international festivals in Britain including Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham and the South Bank and has broadcast extensively on radio and television all over the world. Recently he has been as far as Borneo and the Arctic Circle.
Gerald Garcia has given recitals with many leading ensembles, soloists and actors including the London Sinfonietta, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Paco Pena, John Williams, Richard Baker, Prunella Scales and Leo McKern. With the flautist Clive Conway he has performed in most parts of Britain as well as at Glastonbury Pop Festival and on the ocean liner, the QE II. He has performed throughout Britain with the Chilean group, Quimantu, and has also collaborated with Asian and oriental artists, notably the Pipa virtuoso, Wu Man. Composers who have dedicated works to him include Michael Finnissy and Judith Weir. He has studied Renaissance and Baroque music for the lute, guitar and vihuela, on which he is an accomplished performer.
Gerald Garcia has taught at the GB International Summer School for Guitarists with Gilbert Biberian with whom he was co-director, and regularly appears at summer schools in Belgium and the USA. He is a regular visitor to the Iserlohn Summer School in Germany. He has conducted amateur orchestras at the Baroque Summer School. His other teaching activities include workshops, notably in schools projects with the English National Opera, Kent Opera and the Academy of St.Martin-in the Fields and many weekend workshops for guitarists in Britain and Europe. Recent teaching included a one-day seminar on stress and musicians'injuries with John Williams at the London School of Music, and a training day on music drama for young children with instrumental teachers on the Isle of Skye. He is also extremely busy as a session musician and has worked with such diverse talents as Michel Legrand, Barbara Streisand, Larry Coryell and Wayne Shorter, and has played the title music in several feature films.
Gerald Garcia studied Chemistry at Oxford University and now lives in Oxford where he enjoys cycling, cooking, computer music, Taoist Yoga and conducting the odd chamber orchestra.
Graham Anthony Devine was born in England and began his musical studies at Chetham's School of Music, Manchester studying guitar with Gordon Crosskey. He moved to Brazil when he was nineteen and became an established teacher and performer there, giving many recitals and masterclasses throughout South America.
In April 2002 Graham was the first prize winner at one of the guitar's most prestigious international competitions, the Alhambra International Guitar Competition held in Alcoy, Spain. He was to repeat this success one month later by winning the first prize at the Emilio Pujol International Guitar Competition, Italy. He is the only English guitarist to win either of these competitions.
Graham records for NAXOS and his recent CD releases have received rave reviews worldwide. His 2005 NAXOS release, British Guitar music, was chosen as disc of the week on America's NPR radio station and CLASSIC FM's John Brunning commented "Graham Devine, who plays with great sensitivity, strikes me as an ideal artist to continue Bream's musical legacy. On the evidence presented here, this young virtuoso has a very bright future indeed".
Graham has also made two CDs for the UK based label GGR, they are entitled Appassionata and Burgalesa and were recorded by acclaimed recording engineer and producer, John Taylor.
Widely considered as one of today's very best young guitarists, Graham is currently in much demand as a recitalist, concerto soloist and international competition jury member.He has also been invited to give masterclasses at festivals and musical institutes throughout the world. His huge repertoire covers music from the renaissance period right through to most major 20th century works written for the guitar, including rarely performed masterpieces such as Maurice Ohana's compositions for ten-string guitar.
Graham currently teaches guitar at the Trinity College of Music, London.
Graham is a regular performer in Chester and at Wirral's International Guitar Festival.
John Byrne graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in 1992 after studying there for four years under the tutelage of Gordon Crosskey.
During this time he participated in several master-classes with John Williams and played at the prestigious Principal's Concert held by the College each year. Before commencing his studies at the RNCM, John was lead guitarist with The LA's and had a world-wide hit with "There She Goes". Another interest was composition and he has had several songs published by Chappell Music and has performed on TV and radio many times.
He is a regular performer in Great Britain and wins admiration wherever he plays, recent successes being:
Born in Kingston upon Thames in 1947, John Mills studied guitar first at the Spanish Guitar Centre, London, and later at the Royal College of Music under the professorship of John Williams. In 1968 he studied at the famous series of master-classes held in Santiago de Compostela in Spain given by the legendary maestro Andrés Segovia, and in 1970 played in classes given by Julian Bream at the University of Warwick.
Following graduation from the RCM in 1969, he was appointed Head of Guitar at the RCM's Junior Department, a position he held for several years. In 1970 he was a prize-winner in the Greater London Arts Association's Young Performers Competition which resulted in him taking part in a concert at the Purcell Room. John Mills' official solo London debut took place in 1971 at the Wigmore Hall, and he then made his international debut the following year with a tour of Eastern Canada.
John Mills was a frequent performer on both BBC Radio 2 and Radio 3, including several live broadcasts from centres such as Manchester and Bristol, and recorded a number of albums for several labels in the UK. He has contributed a large number of articles to guitar magazines over the last 30 years, as well as being the author of a