02 June 2019

Johan Lofving


Since being a prize winner in the prestigious London International Guitar Competition, Johan Löfving has established himself as a truly exciting musician of a new generation with a particular passion for the music of the eighteenth and early- nineteenth centuries. His performances have taken him to some of the finest concert halls such as Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, The Sage Gateshead, Wiener Saal Salzburg and MuTh- Konzertsaal der Wiener Sängerknaben in Vienna.

Additionally, he has appeared in major festivals including Spitalfields, King’s Lynn, Stratford-on-Avon, Brighton Early Music Festival, Cambridge Summer Music Festival, Bath Guitar Festival, Saxå Chamber Music Festival, Styriarte Festival Graz and Carinthischer Sommer in Villach, Austria.

In 2011 Johan was awarded the First Prize in the Young Talent Concert at the Uppsala Guitar Festival in Sweden and the performance was recorded and broadcast later by the Swedish Radio P2. The following year he was awarded the Jörgen Rörby Prize and the audience prize from the Swedish Guitar and Lute Society.

Apart from his long term work with Flauguissimo Duo and Improviso, he has worked with some of the finest musicians, such as Barokksolistene, baritone Thomas Guthrie, tenor Rob Murray as well as pianist David Owen Norris, who invited him to take part in the ‘Playlist Series’ on BBC Radio 4. His passion for new music has resulted in several world premieres of both solo and chamber works, notably by the highly acclaimed British composer and guitarist Sam Cave.

Johan graduated with First Class Honours from the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied guitar with Gary Ryan, theorbo with Jakob Lindberg and conducting with Natalia Luis-Bassa. At RCM he was awarded both the Guitar Prize and the Hilda Anderson Dean Prize. Subsequently, he completed his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Professors Robert Wolff and Hans Brüderl and was awarded a scholarship from the Swedish Royal Academy of Music.

Programme

D. Aguado (1784-1849)
Fandango Variado Op. 16

N. Coste (1805-1883)
Les soirées d'Auteuil, Op.23

M. Giuliani (1781-1829)
Adagio con grand espressione
(from Sonata Op. 15)

G. Regondi (1822-1872)
Introduction et Caprice Op. 23

Interval

J. Turina (1882-1949)
Homenaje a Tárrega Op. 69

Two Tangos:

A. Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Verano Porteño

R. Dyens (1955-2016)
Tango en Skaï

M. Ponce (1882-1948)
Andante espressivo
(From Sonata Romántica)

A. Ginastera (1916-1983)
Sonata Op. 47


Instruments

First half:  Romantic Guitar, Tribout from 1850

Second half: Classical Guitar by Yngvar Thomassen 2001