CONCERTS
ANTONIO REY - 5/20/2023 @ 7:00 PM
The 2020 Latin GRAMMY Award-winner for best flamenco album, “Flamenco Sin Fronteras,” Antonio Rey is regarded by flamenco aficionados as among the world’s top premier flamenco guitar virtuosos. He is beloved by audiences for his natural charisma, charm and for his prodigious musicality. His dazzling speed, comprehensive yet effortless flamenco vocabulary, and soulful compositions combine to make for an unforgettable musical experience.
He was born in 1981 in Madrid to a family of artists. His musical career began at age 10 in Mexico where he lived with his father, Tony Rey. At age 15 he made his first tour of Japan with the renowned Japanese bailaora Yoko Komatsubara. Three years later his career in Spain was launched when he was invited by the highly acclaimed flamenco dancer, Antonio Canales, to join his company.
In 2003 at only 22-years-old, Rey won st Guitar Prize at the prestigious La Union Mines Festival in Murcia, Spain. He went on that year to garner the Bordon Minero trophy followed by 1st Prize at the L’Hospitalet Contest Llobregat in Barcelona. In 2007 he was engaged as musical director for the live album “Olala!” by actress Victoria Abril. That same year he began to present his work “A Traves de Ti” on different stages around the world, followed by three additional solo CDs and tours.
IRINA KULIKOVA - 5/19/2023 @ 7:00 PM
Widely acclaimed for the rare beauty of her sound and her enchanting presence on stage, Irina Kulikova has established herself as one of today’s leading guitarists.
Irina Kulikova is an internationally touring artists and has received over 30 awards for her artistry, including 1st prizes at the highly prestigiouscompetitions of Michele Pittaluga in Italy, Guitarra Alhambra in Spain, Forum Gitarre Wien in Austria and Iserlohn in Germany.
She recorded six albums, five of which in cooperation with Grammy-Award winning producer Norbert Kraft. "Some of the most sheerly beautiful playing I have ever heard”, Soundboard Magazine reviewed.
An ambassador of pure and heartfelt performing, Irina Kulikova inspires guitar students in master classes all over the world and with her online Classical Guitar Academy. Her personal motto, in life and music: It’s about the touch. Irina's concert is scheduled for Friday, 5/19/2023 @ 7:00 PM.
KEVIN ENSTROM - 5/20/2023 @ 2:00 PM
Originally from Ontario, Canada, Kevin works alongside Christopher Parkening in the Pepperdine classical guitar department. Kevin has performed throughout the U.S, Canada and Europe, playing works by Torroba, Tedesco, Rodrigo, Dyens and many more. In 2014 Enstrom co-founded the “Orpheo Guitar Quartet” along with guitarists Tomasz Fechner, Christian Cruz and Sean Mulholland, premiering on KUSC’s radio concert hour at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The group was later awarded the “Outstanding Ensemble Award” from the Thornton School of music at the University of Southern California.
Outside of live performances, his love of many styles has given him the opportunity to record with many artists backed by both major and independent record labels. Some of his musical contributions have been heard at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival, on VH1, as well as MTV shows “Finding Carter” and “Awkward”, among others.
Enstrom received his bachelors of music from Pepperdine University in 2014 studying under world-renowned classical guitarist, Christopher Parkening. And, in 2016, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Masters of Music from the University of Southern California, where he studied under Scott Tennant of the LAGQ.
Kevin's concert is scheduled for 5/20/2023 @ 2:00 PM.
CHRISTINA SANDSENGEN - 5/19/2023 @ 9:30 PM
“... by turns emphatic, fragile, bold, tender and wild...” – Gramophone Magazine.
Christina Sandsengen studied classical guitar at the Norwegian Academy of Music and at the Conservatorio Superior de Música ‘Manuell Castillo’ in Spain. After finishing her studies in Norway, she studied with Gérard Abiton in Paris.
She has performed at the Norwegian National Opera, in Britain, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Spain, Italia, Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Japan and the USA, and she has participated in many masterclasses with leading international guitarists, including Eliot Fisk, Aniello Desiderio and Fabio Zanon. Christina’s music has been featured on BBC radio channel, Classic FM and many other international radio and TV programs all over the world, she has performed on Turkish CNN and as a support artist to Al Di Meola.
Christina Sandsengen was a board member of the Classical Guitar Association of Norway, and the Norwegian Guitar Festival. Her musical contributions are recognised by ‘The Recording Academy’ where she is a voting member for the Grammy Awards. She founded Oslo Gitarskole, that was Norway’s leading school for classical guitar, and regularly gives concerts and masterclasses across the globe alongside other top artists from the international guitar scene in addition to being an instructor at Elite Guitarist. In the fall of 2014 she released her debut album, Shades & Contrasts, on Odradek Records. The album has received numerous outstanding reviews, from The Independent and Gramophone Magazine among others, with The Arts Desk declaring that: “Norwegian guitarist Christina Sandsengen’s technique is flawless, and hearing her left hand nimbly skate up and down the fingerboard serves only to increase one’s admiration”. Shades & Contrasts won award for best ambient/instrumental album by The Akademia.
In the wake of the release of Shades & Contrasts, Christina Sandsengen made a music video performing one of the works on the CD, ‘Preludio Saudade’ from La Catedral by Agustín Barrios Mangoré. She recorded Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy in legendary EastWest Studios in Los Angeles, and released the music video ‘Clair de Lune’ in March 2018, and the single ‘Clair de Lune’ on RMN Classical later the same year.
Christina is featured on the techincal death metal band Allegaeon's album Apoptosis where she duets with guitarist Greg Burgess on 'Colors of the Currents' and their extra track 'Concerto in Dm (BWV 1052)' by J.S Bach. The music video 'Colors of the Currents' was released in 2019.
Marius Noss Gundersen dedicated the suite Seasons to Christina, and she recorded it for his album ‘Solo Guitar Works’ which also features 4 more of Norway’s leading classical guitarists playing Gundersen’s music.
Christina Sandsengen plays a portrait guitar by Connor Guitars, and is endorsed by Royer Labs Microphones, MusicArea Cases, Knobloch strings and ErgoPlay guitar supports.
She released a music video of Dee by Randy Rhoads as a tribute to him and the classical guitar.
She recently released her album Solace on NXN Recordings / Naxos Records. The album that marks her debut as a composer.
She has received Akademia's prestigious and most honorable award, the "Executive Award" for her outstanding creativity, artistry and professional achievements in the field of music.
Christina's concert is scheduled for 5/19/2023 @ 9:30 PM.