If it’s for the Granada Guitar Festival, La Guitarra Española or just visiting Granada, Come and say hello!
Every Summer I teach at the CSU Summer Arts program here in Granada. La Guitarra Española is a course run by CSU (California State Universities) that features three weeks of masterclasses, concerts and ensemble playing. It’s an amazing experience, and scholarships are widely available to cover tuition. And the best part is hanging out with fellow guitar players in this amazing atmosphere. Some of my best friends are people I met ages ago at guitar festivals when I was just starting to play.
I should say up front that it’s mainly geared towards classical players, with a focus on Spanish repertoire. Every day features masterclasses with great players like Pepe Romero and Jose Luis Merlín, ensemble playing with coaching that culminates in a student concert at the end of the course, and an hour of flamenco most days, usually taught by me.
I’m particularly excited that this year in addition to my teaching there will be masterclasses by two of my all-time favorite flamenco players: Manolo Franco and Pedro Sierra. These guys are monster players and teachers both of whom I’ve admired for decades, and I’m really looking forward to being there to interpret and facilitate their classes.
And of course there are also concerts of world-class classical and flamenco guitarists almost nightly throughout the course as part of the 7th annual Granada Guitar Festival, and tickets to the concerts are included in the course. And of course there is great flamenco happening all over Granada every night!
You don’t have to be a CSU student, or even enrolled in college, to apply for the course. And the scholarship money is real. There’s no cost to apply for scholarship money, so if that’s what’s holding you back just give it a shot and see how it goes. You can apply for scholarship money by clicking on this link, and the link for application is here. You can see more information about La Guitarra Espñola here.
Or Just Come Visit
We love showing our subscribers around Granada when they come visit and taking them to see great Flamenco. If you’re planning a trip to Spain let us know and come meet us. We’ll take you to our Peña if you’re here on a good night for that, or find some way to make sure you experience great flamenco while here.
Recently we had a few friends and subscribers here in the same week, so we arranged a little impromptu Cante masterclass with a singer friend and spent a few hours accompanying Soleá and Tangos Cante. We had so much fun we’re thinking about arranging more of this.
We would love to see you
But the point is that we love what do – sharing our love of flamenco with others who want to learn. So if you’re thinking of coming to Spain, let us know. We’ll see you here in Granada!
