David Russell (guitarist)


David Russell is a classical guitarist. He plays Matthias Dammann guitars. Widely known for his near flawless tone and diverse repertoire, Russell is one of the most distinguished and accomplished classical guitarists in the world.

Biography

When Russell was five years of age, his family moved from Glasgow to Menorca, where he became interested in the guitar, imitating the likes of Andrés Segovia and Julian Bream.
Today, Russell resides in Galicia, but spends most of his time touring, appearing in such cities as Barcelona, New York City, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Madrid, Toronto, Amsterdam, and Denver. He is regularly invited to play in music festivals.
David has won amateur golf tournaments, mainly in Scotland and Spain. He is an avid supporter of his local football team, Celta de Vigo.

Honours and awards

During his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, Russell won the Julian Bream Guitar Prize twice and received a scholarship from the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust. Later he won numerous international competitions, including the Andrés Segovia Competition, the José Ramírez Competition, and Spain's Francisco Tárrega Competition.
Russell was named a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1997.
In May 2003 he was awarded the honour of being made "adopted son" of Es Migjorn, the town on Menorca where he grew up.
In November 2003 he was given the Medal of Honour of the Conservatory of the Balearics.
In 2005, he won a Grammy Award for best instrumental soloist in classical music for his CD Aire Latino.

Discography

Since 1995, Russell has had a contract with Telarc International. He has recorded a CD featuring the music of Paraguayan guitarist-composer Agustín Barrios Mangoré; another with the music of Spanish composer Federico Moreno Torroba; a recording including the three Rodrigo concerti for solo guitar ; Celtic Music for Guitar, Music by Giuliani, Baroque Music, Spanish Favorites, David Russell plays Bach, Aire Latino, Spanish Legends, Air on a G-string, For David, Sonidos Latinos, Albeniz and his most recent, Grandeur of the Baroque.
His discography also includes a recital CD with transcriptions of Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti, an all-classical album called Nineteenth Century Music, and the complete works of Francisco Tárrega on Opera Tres.