Otto Vowinkel

Guitar maker Amsterdam

model 2A

Cyprus Guitar Festival

mustafa elmas- can belgili

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.

Ozan Saritepe (photo Emre Ünlenen)

 

Zoran Dukic Guitar
Zoran Dukic (photo Emre Ünlenen)

 

2nd international cyprus guitar festival team
Erkan Sülün (most left) and Ünal Dede (most right) with their team members : Arda Özsegkin, Neriman Soykunt and Murat Alihan. (photo: Facebook)

And there was a boat ride hosted by Ünal Dede who, besides being a guitar professor, is also a renowned sailing instructor.

Zoran Dukic Sailor
Zoran Dukic after his concert

 

 

Matthijs van Delft

Matthijs van Delft - werkplaats otto vowinkel

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!

matthijs van delft
Matthijs van Delft (photo Antwerp Guitar Festival)
Matthijs_van_Delft_wint_GitaarConcours
Jan Depreter, Matthijs van Delft, Fernando Cordas , Izhar Elias (Foto KonCon)

Nelson Faria #2

nelson faria

 

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.

Galerie des Luthiers

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.

Krisna and Prawira Pijloo

krisna_en_prawira pijloo

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.

Nelson Faria

Nelson Faria and Joao Bosco

This is Nelson Faria together with the legendary guitarist João Bosco.

Nelson Faria is a Brazilian guitarist, arranger and teacher. He performed with the greatest artists, can be listened to on numerous recordings and wrote a standard work for guitarists about how to play Brazilian music.

His program Um café lá em casa (a coffee at home) is ingenious in its simplicity: inviting colleague musicians for a coffee and a talk about their life, career and music. The conversations are in Portuguese but also for non Portuguese speakers it’s worth watching since live music forms it’s main part. A real must see for all those who love – Brazilian – music.