FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
D’Addario Boosts Efforts in Classical Guitar With Addition of Influential Artists
FARMINGDALE, NY, July 22, 2009 – D’Addario is proud to announce the signing of classical guitar greats Philippe Bertaud, Vida Guitar Quartet, Carlos Perez, Hubert Kappel and Milos Karadaglic to its respected artist roster. This group join the most exclusive list of classical guitarists including John Dearman, David Russell, Ben Verdery, and Aniello Desiderio to endorse D’Addario strings.
Philippe Bertaud (pictured left) knows that music is a gift. In fact, he started playing the guitar by chance at the age of fourteen while living in the south of France. He then began classical and jazz guitar training at the National Conservatory of Nice. At just 16, he achieved success in early recitals, made his first recording “le Sud” (produced by Kiss FM Cote d’Azur), and started touring in Germany. Philippe then recorded “Recital”, a kind of musical history of guitar from XVI to XX Centuries; a nod to his classical European heritage. Bertaud began writing his own pieces, in a “Classic Fusion” style. He recorded his first composition album, “Je vous ecris d’un pays lointain…” accompanied by a jazz quartet.
Hubert Kappel, the only German guitarist ever to win the International Interpretation Competition in Gargano, Italy, trained at the Cologne College of Music where he completed his classical guitar studies with Konrad Ragossnig at the Music Academy in Basel, Switzerland and with Oscar Ghiglia in Italy. Kappel has since established himself as a leading performer and teacher of the guitar, touring as a recitalist, orchestral soloist, and chamber player throughout Europe, Asia, and North and South America. He has given concerts and master classes at many international music and guitar festivals, as well as served on juries in most of the major guitar competitions. Currently, Kappel directs a guitar program at the Musikhochschule, one of the most successful guitar classes in Europe. In 2001, Hubert Kappel and composer George Schmitz created the Koblenz Guitar Academy, a school devoted to nurturing the development of exceptionally talented young guitarists. He has also written a guitar method published by AMA Musikverlag.
Milos Karadaglic, a guitarist since the age of eight, has since graduated with top honors from the Royal Acadmey of Music and has also received his Master of Music degree. Karadaglic marked his successful debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, performing Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez in two sold-out performances at the Brighton Dome and Eastbourne Congress Theatre. In November 2008, he shared the stage with Julian Bream in a gala concert celebrating the life and work of Sir Malcolm Arnold. In August 2008, Karadaglic performed a solo recital at the famous Luzern Festival in Switzerland. Other solo recitals and concerto performances include various London venues: St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. John’s, Smith Square, St. James’ Piccadilly, Duke’s Hall, Bolivar Hall; Edinburgh, Durness (Northern Lights Festival), Bristol’s Colston Hall, Royal & Derngate Theatre in Northampton, various other U.K. music societies and festivals; Italy, Malta, Romania, toured Serbia and Montenegro.
Carlos Perez began playing guitar at an early age through his father. He graduated with top honors from the Arts Faculty of the University of Chile where he studied under Ernesto Quezada. He was awarded top prizes in major international competitions in Europe and America, winning first prize most recently in III “Joaquín Rodrigo” Spain 2006. He has released eight CDs and recorded at several European radio stations. He has given recitals in more than thirty countries taking him to play at Berlin Philarmonie (Germany), Auditorio Nacional (Spain), Royal Festival Hall (England), Teatro Monumental (Spain), and other prestigious concert halls. Carlos has participated in many guitar and chamber music festivals around the world and is consistently invited to give master classes and lectures at universities and schools of music in Latin America, Europe and USA. He is also a member of the Arts Faculty of the University of Chile as a proffesor since 2008.
The Vida Guitar Quartet brings together four guitarists of exceptional ability and virtuosity sharing a passion for chamber music. After their spectacular debut at the first World Youth Guitar Festival in 2007, the quartet are rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the most exciting guitar ensembles. Vida plan to release their first CD, Love, the Magician in 2009 on the BGS label. The group is made up of Mark Ashford, Helen Sanderson, as well as Mark Eden and Christopher Stell, better known as the Eden Stell Guitar Duo. All studied and award-winning guitarists and musicians, the Vida Guitar Quartet perform regularly and attend various guitar festivals.
“We are thrilled to welcome these five incredible musicians into the D’Addario family,” says Hugh Gilmartin, D’Addario Artist Relations. “Each of them display passion for the classical guitar as well as a desire to promote music itself. We’re proud they will now represent D’Addario.”
For more information on Philippe Bertaud, please visit www.philippebertaud.com.
For more information on Vida Guitar Quartet, please visit www.vidagq.com.
For more information on Carlos Perez, please visit www.carlosperez.cl.
For more information on Hubert Kaeppel, please visit www.hubertkaeppel.de.
For more information on Milos Karadaglic, please visit www.miloskaradaglic.com.
For more information on D’Addario, please visit www.daddario.com.
D’Addario & Company, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets complete lines of strings for fretted and bowed musical instruments, drumheads, drum practice pads, and guitar and woodwind accessories under the proprietary brand names D’Addario, Evans Drumheads, Planet Waves, Rico, HQ Percussion and PureSound Percussion. The company also runs the popular Gbase.com online gear source as well as theLessonroom.com and tothestage.com. D’Addario products are marketed in approximately 120 countries.
Media Contact:
Angela Magliocca
Angela.magliocca@daddario.com