04 January 2009

Petros Andreou & Stephen Dell

Petros Andreou.

Petros was born in 1960 in Cyprus, but since the age of 6 months has lived in the United Kingdom. Petros started learning the Classical Guitar at the age of 9 and then the Bouzouki at the age of 12. He started playing the Bouzouki professionally from the age of 15. He experimented with transcribing classical music for the Bouzouki and found an authentic sound. He has performed the Vivaldi guitar concerto adapted for Bouzouki and has given numerous recitals as a soloist performing classical transcriptions. He has also performed his own compositions. He has performed twice at the Purcell Room of the Royal Festival Hall in London with soprano singer Soumaya Deeb, and was then invited to perform at the Auditorium Al Bustan in Beirut Lebanon in 2005 which proved to be a great success. Petros currently teaches both the Classical Guitar and Bouzouki; and performs on both instruments.
Stephen Dell.
Stephen began learning the guitar at the age of 8, his fast progress helped by a series of tutor books his father Chris had just written, which utilised a new method of teaching music using colour.Having attended around 200 concerts and taken part in dozens of guitar workshops hosted by his father during the 70’s and early 80’s at the Old Malthouse Music Society in Hertfordshire, Stephen realised that although he loved the guitar very much, he would never have the drive and determination to become a professional player, as he soon realised the many hours of assiduous practise it involved. Growing up reading the somewhat ruthless concert reviews within the pages of Guitar magazine also contributed to this feeling!
Tonight's programme will hopefully please those who enjoy a varied and eclectic mix of quality music, from 16th & 17th century rock’n’rollers Dowland and Bach, to a more contemporary romance by Debussy and one of Joplin's ragtimes.