Eliot Fisk, Angel Romero Play Guitar Together

Eliot Fisk

Passauer Neue Presse notes that Eliot Fisk, “like a magician, seems to pull life itself out of the instrument.” Fisk has expanded the repertoire for the guitar through his groundbreaking transcriptions of works by Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, Paganini and others, as well as through commissions from Luciano Berio, Leonardo Balada, Robert Beaser, Wiliam Bolcom, Xavier Montsalvatge, Nicholas Maw, George Rochberg and Kurt Schwertsik. Since his critically acclaimed recital debut at Lincoln Center in 1980, Fisk has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Houston Symphony, among many others. In 1996, he performed at the Palacio de los Cordova for former President Bill Clinton and King Juan Carlos of Spain.

Fisk serves as director of the guitar program at the New England Conservatory; professor of guitar at the Universitat Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria; and founder and director of the Boston Guitar Fest, annual weeklong series of concerts and workshops dedicated to exploring the new possibilities of the guitar within an international context. Fisk was the last direct pupil of the legendary Andres Segovia and also studied interpretation under the great harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick at Yale University, from which he graduated summa cum laude in 1976. He currently lives in Boston, Salzburg and Granada.

Angel Romero

The New York Times calls Angel Romero “an artist of unfailing musicality.” Career highlights include an appearance as the first-ever guitar soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and performing for world leaders in a televised 1992 performance in the United Nations General Assembly Hall, at the invitation of Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Romero has appeared as a soloist with the New York and Royal philharmonics, Cleveland and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras and the New World Symphony; as a conductor with the Pittsburgh and San Diego symphonies, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Germany’s NDR Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Symphoniker, Chicago Sinfonietta, Orquesta de Baja California, and the Beijing, Berlin, Bogota, Euro-Asia and Royal Philharmonics.

In 1989, Romero performed the entire score for The Milagro Bean Field War, a film directed by Robert Redford; in 1994, he composed and directed the score for Bienvenido–Welcome; he also performed and recorded the entire score for By The Sword, composed by Bill Conti, and had a cameo appearance in the major motion picture Bound by Honor.

In 2000, he was presented the Grand Cross of Isabel la Catolica, Spain’s highest honor, and knighted in honor of his musical accomplishments. In 2007, he received the Recording Academy President’s Merit Award for his contributions to music and professional achievement. Born in Malaga, Spain, Romero made his professional debut at age 6 and his U.S. debut at the Hollywood Bowl, giving the West Coast premiere of Rodrigo’s “Aranjuez” concerto. -- www.seattlesymphony.org