I dropped in on José Ángel Chacón Tenllado yesterday in Málaga. He was my first teacher in this fascinating world of instrument-making. He is also responsible for the beginnings of artisans such as Susana Martín, Victor Quintanilla and his son José Ángel “Chico” Chacón Escobar. I caught Chico at the family workshop where he teaches lutherie and saw some old friends too. Always a pleasure to remember my roots.
Tag Archives: luthery
Centro de Referencia Nacional
We have been hearing for years now that Granada will be home to the National Centre of Reference for guitar-making. However, bureaucracy and bad management conspired to make that impossible. In the end Granada has finally been approved as reference centre for construction and maintenance of musical instruments among other things. There is no guitar programme as yet but perhaps another 10 years will see that.
El Gobierno da ‘luz verde’ a ocho nuevos Centros de Referencia Nacional en Formación Profesional
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el Gobierno en funciones da luz verde a la creación como Centro de Referencia Nacional de la Escuela de Formación en Artesanía, Restauración y Rehabilitación del Patrimonio Histórico, Artístico y Cultural Albayzín en Granada, en el área profesional de Artesanía Tradicional, en el de Recuperación, Reparación y Mantenimiento Artísticos, en el área de Fabricación y Mantenimiento de Instrumentos Musicales y en el área profesional de Vidrio y Cerámica Artesanal de la familia …
Closing concert of the Granada Guitar Festival
José Miguel Moreno and his archlute joined the National Youth Orchestra of Canada on August 12 for a great concert to close the festival. A small chamber representation of the orchestra and Moreno played two Vivaldi concertos and then the entire orchestra played Prokofiev and some fantastic Falla. The best part about the concert was the enthusiasm evident on the faces of and in the playing of these under 28-year-old musicians. Read more about them here. Moreno played soulfully as always and the orchestra was perfect. When they received a standing ovation and were convinced to play two encores the music was two choral songs that seem to be a part of their training as orchestral musicians. Very beautifully sung; better than many a choir I have heard.
Final concert – Summer Arts
The final activity of Summer Arts in Granada and usually one of the final activities of the Granada Guitar Festival is the concert by the students of guitar after studying here for three months. Friday night they played to a full house in the patio of the Town Council and did a fine job of Bach, Telemann, Boccherini and some flamenco. Congratulations to them and their teachers: The Romero Quartet, Mabel Millán, Vicente Coves, Scott Morris, Chika Inoue, and Kai Narezo.
Summer Arts and the Guitar-makers Association
Every year the Association asks for a meeting between the Granada makers and the guitar students of Summer Arts. This year we had a good turnout of makers and caught most of the students in the classrooms where they have their masterclasses. Seems a shame for them to come all the way here and not get to know the makers and their work.
Most of them tried my copy of the Invencible by Torres and enjoyed the sound and playability.