Guitar maker Amsterdam
These are Peter and Kristoffer Kalisky at the Frankfurter Messe. Father and son are the owners of the Norwegian Guitar Center and since the end of April, they have a 2A model of mine in stock. I’m looking forward working with them!
Last year Mustafa Elmas and Can Belgeli came to my workshop to buy two of my 2A models. The guitars were meant for guitar students in Cyprus where there happens to be an active guitar community.
Mustafa, Can and the Academic Members of Near East University, Dr. Erkan Sülün and Ünal Dede are playing a leading role in this community. Together they organize a guitar festival to which Esther and I were invited.
There were lectures, concerts and masterclasses.
And there was a boat ride hosted by Ünal Dede who, besides being a guitar professor, is also a renowned sailing instructor.
This is Matthijs van Delft, a young, Dutch guitarist, studying at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag with Fernando Cordas in his Young Talent Class. Matthijs came to the workshop together with his father to buy a new guitar. Less than a month later he sent me an email, telling me that he is very happy with his guitar and won the junior competition of the Antwerpen Guitar Festival as well as the Leo Brouwer prize!
Well done Matthijs!! Congratulations!
This is Nelson Faria discussing his Otto Vowinkel in Fica a Dica, (this is a tip). Nelson Faria is a great Brazilian guitarist whom I wrote about earlier.
What a pleasant surprise it was when I opened the link Swedish guitarist Kristoffer Skoog sent me. I found this episode of Fica a Dica in which Nelson talks only positive words about his 2A model, Flamenco.
Fica a dica is part of Um cafe la em casa, the internet show in which Nelson discusses and plays music with colleagues and friends. A must see for all guitarists who want to play Brazilian music.
This is Maurice Freton from Galerie des Luthiers in Lyon, France.
Esther and I only knew the city Lyon from passing it on our way southwards. Last time we decided to make a stop and pay it a visit, something we should have done a long time before. Lyon is a beautiful place, full of nice people and fantastic restaurants!
We went to see Galerie des Luthiers, a guitar shop specialized in classical guitars, run by Alice and Maurice Freton. That particular day Alice was out of town, but her father Maurice welcomed us with great enthusiasm.
Next week Galerie des Luthiers will have two guitars of mine in stock: a 2A and a 3A model.
These are Krisna and Prawira Pijloo after having performed Manuel de Falla’s La Vida Breve in Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Both Krisna and Prawira play the guitar from an early age and both want to become professional guitarists.
We invited them to play one piece before Rafael’s concert, to get a taste of the real thing. In the video below you can see them getting prepared, at home as well as right before the concert.
I know Krisna and Prawira since 2013 as you can see in the other video, recorded when they visited the workshop with their parents.
