Ricardo Gallén facts for kids

Ricardo Jesús Gallén García, born on March 12, 1972, is a talented classical guitarist from Spain. He has been playing and performing since the mid-1990s. Today, he teaches guitar at a famous music school in Weimar, Germany, called the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt.

Ricardo Gallén's Musical Journey

Ricardo Gallén was born in Linares, Jaén, Spain, in 1972. He started playing the classical guitar when he was just four years old. Amazingly, he performed in public only a year later! When he was ten, he joined the Conservatory of Music in Cordoba. There, he received his first formal music lessons from the school's founder, Tomás Villajos Soler.

Early Studies and Teachers

Ricardo continued his music studies at several conservatories in Spain. These included schools in Jaén, Cordoba, Madrid, and Granada. He learned from many great teachers like Victor Valls, Miguel Barberá, Demetrio Ballesteros, and Carmelo Martinez. At the same time, he also attended special master classes in Spain and other countries.

He also studied guitar and old music at universities in Salzburg, Austria (Mozarteum University), and Munich, Germany (Hochschule für Musik und Theater München). His teachers there included Masters Eliot Fisk, Christoph Eglhuber, Jürgen Hübscher, and Joaquin Clerch. In 1999, he earned a special diploma called the Meisterklassendiplom from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.

Teaching and Performing Around the World

From 2001 to 2006, Ricardo Gallén taught at Ramon Llull University in Spain. He also became an assistant teacher for Eliot Fisk's class at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg from 2004 to 2009. He taught at the University of Extremadura in Spain from 2005 to 2013. He was also a guest teacher at other music schools in Spain. Since 2009, Ricardo Gallén has been a professor at the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt" in Weimar, Germany.

Ricardo has performed many concerts all over the world. He has played solo, in duets, and with orchestras. He has worked with famous conductors like Maximiano Valdes and Leo Brouwer. He has performed in over 30 countries across Europe and America. Some of these countries include Mexico, the USA, Australia, Russia, and Israel. He has played in important concert halls like the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the National Auditorium of Music in Madrid.

Ricardo Gallén has also been a judge for several international guitar competitions. He has given many master classes, which are special lessons for advanced students. He has taught these classes in countries like Austria, Germany, the USA, and Australia.

Ricardo Gallén's Recordings

Ricardo Gallén's first album was very popular for Naxos Records in 2001. It received excellent reviews from music critics. He then released five more albums with Naxos. On these albums, he played music by composers like Mauro Giuliani and Leo Brouwer. He also recorded all the guitar concertos by the Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo.

In 2013, he released a double CD with all of Bach's Complete Lute Suites. This album was released by Sunnyside Records. In May 2014, his latest CD, "Fernando Sor – Guitar Sonatas," came out with Eudora Records. He has also recorded for radio and television in many countries, including Spain, Germany, and South Korea.

Ricardo Gallén plays a classical guitar made by Paco Santiago Marín. He also plays a romantic guitar made by Arnoldo García. He uses Savarez Alliance Strings on his guitars.

Awards and Special Recognition

Ricardo Gallén has entered more than twenty international guitar competitions. He has won five first-place awards! These include:

• The 32nd Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition in 1997.
• The 14th Andrés Segovia International Classical Guitar Competition in 1998, where he also won a special prize.
• The Fourth Alhambra International Guitar Competition in 1998.
• The 33rd Francisco Tarrega International Guitar Contest in 1999, where he also won the audience's favorite prize.
• The 11th International Guitar Competition in 2002, where he won five special prizes.

Discography

• Sor: Guitar Sonatas (Eudora)
• Bach: Complete Lute Works (Sunnyside)
• Tales · Diego Barber (Sunnyside)
• Giuliani: Variations (Naxos)
• Guitar Recital: Ricardo Gallen (Naxos)
• Regondi: Airs Varies / Reverie, Op. 19 / Mertz: Bardenklange, Op. 13 (Naxos)
• Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez / Concierto Andaluz (Complete Orchestral Works, Vol. 2) (Naxos)
• Rodrigo Concierto Madrigal / Concierto para una Fiesta (Complete Orchestral Works, Vol. 5) (Naxos)
• Rodrigo: Joaquin Rodrigo – A Portrait (Naxos)
• Adagio Chillout (Naxos)
• Classical Chillout – The Essential Collection (Naxos)

See also

In Spanish: Ricardo Gallén para niños