Mykl

At an early age Mykl showed an affinity with animals, keeping a variety of pets from guinea pigs to mosquitoes. He used to frighten his mother with a large, hairy, rubber spider until she threw it away.

By the age of five he’d given up his ambition of being John Wayne. By ten he’d decided not to be an astronaut, fireman, policeman or stuntman. At sixteen he got a guitar and gave up ideas of being a graphic designer. After doing a fairly bad job of teaching himself to play, Mykl searched for teachers able to cope with his argumentative and facetious ways. At twenty Mykl gave up the idea of being a Heavy Metal guitar god. At the age of twenty-two he lost interest in becoming the first non-corrupt politician and being the first Prime Minister to do a good job of running the country, however, he’s still considering becoming a delegate for the Monster-Raving-Loony Party.

As well as performing on national television and radio he has given solo recitals at prestigious venues including the Cathedrals in Rheims, Canterbury and Ely and the French Palais du Tau. He has also played in festivals including St. Gilgen Summer Festival (Austria); Aberystwyth Music Fest (Wales); Canterbury Festival and Sounds New. Audience members have included Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Naresh Sohal, the current and previous Archbishops and Mr. and Mrs. Faldo (parents of Nick).

He occasionally gives concerts for the charity organisation Music in Hospitals. He also spends a lot of time shut in his room with only a rat for company. He considered getting a life but after observing how much hassle they cause others, he decided not to bother

Dan Evans & Lucy Green

Dan is Britain's leading exponent of the Appalachian dulcimer, as well as a highly accomplished and original guitarist, singer and composer. His repertoire encompasses the traditional folk song, and also his own material which is often inspired by nature. His playing style is highly innovative, incorporating elements of medieval music, classical, folk and jazz resulting in a unique and personal sound.

On dulcimer, Dan is able, using the enchanting and charming sound of this fascinating instrument, to capture the authentic feel of Celtic and early music. On a specially adapted guitar, Dan also creates new Celtic-rock in a rich and resonant style, incorporating electro-acoustic and electronic sounds with effects and sampling to build up layers of sound.

Lucy Green is Professor of Music Education at the London University Institute of Education, where she has researched and published books and articles on music education and sociology of music. She has sung with a number of choirs including the English Chamber Choir and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

Together Lucy and Dan bring a fresh approach to the traditional folk song with precise, clear vocals and flowing finger-style accompaniments on dulcimer and guitar.

Capital Chorus

Capital Chorus are the performing chorus of London’s premier Barbershop Harmony Club. Their unaccompanied singing has, over the past 18 years, become a familiar sight at theatres, clubs, fetes and parties throughout London. Their wide repertoire of songs from the 20’s to the 70’s has established their popularity with audiences of all ages.

This evening's programme was drawn from the following songs:

Wonderful Day, Let’s Get Away From It All, Yesterday, Land of Jazz, Wild Irish Rose, Georgia On My Mind, Bye Bye Blue, Gospel Medley, There’s a Meeting Here Tonight, Wonderful World, Something, Hello Mary Lou, Under the Broadwalk, Dream a Little Dream, Old St. Louis, Barbershop Song

Lorraine Lee Hammond

Lorraine was raised in rural Northwestern Connecticut when traditional music was still a vibrant and integrated part of community life. She is a self-taught banjo player and singer, and a leading proponent of the Appalachian dulcimer. Lorraine is also an accomplished player of the Celtic harp, and a skilled songwriter.

Lorraine’s 1999 Shanachie release of West Virginia tunes with fiddler Gerry Milnes, "Hell Up Coal Holler," again breaks new ground for the dulcimer. Her newest recording, Jingalo Gypsy, with husband Bennett, was hailed by Dirty Linen Magazine as " a warm, enveloping, well-thought-out recording….a beautiful CD."
This evening Lorraine will draw from her repertoire of traditional Appalachian songs and ballads, accompanying herself with banjo and Appalachian dulcimer. She will be joined by longtime friend and recording and performance companion, Roger Nicholson, for a few traditional duets. Sarah Bauhan, American flute and whistle player who has performed and recorded with Lorraine for decades, will also join her for part of her programme.

Petros Andreou

Petros Andreou is an Associate and Licentiate of the London College of Music (Classical Guitar) and has been teaching classical guitar in the London Borough of Barnet for over 15 years. He is a regular performer and supporter of Ealing Guitar Society. In his 6-7 concerts to date, Petros has included performances on Classical and 19th Century Romantic Guitar as well as the Greek folk instrument, the bouzouki. In recent years, Petros has twice performed bouzouki at the Royal Festival Hall’s Purcell Room in London.

Petros’ concert focused on the works of 2 key composers, Johann Sebastian Bach (Complete Cello Suite No.1 BW 1007) and Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Preludes 3,5 He will be concluding his recital with 2 movements from Lobos’ well-known Suite Populaire Bresilienne, the Mazurka Choro (1) and Gavotta Choro (4). Petros currently plays guitars by the Madrid makers Tezanos-Perez.

Michael Berk and Gerard Cousins

This was Michael's second appearance this year. Like his appearance last month alongside Roland Chadwick, Michael delivered an inspirational display of musicianship and technique, interweaving his own compositions alongside versions of well-known compositions comprising blue-grass, jazz and folk. Michael Berk .com



Gerard Cousins began his musical studies in Brecon, Wales where he was born. He furthered his studies at the University of Leeds, studying with Graham Wade and was selected to study composition and performance for another year at the Enschede Conservatorium, Netherlands. After graduating with a B.Mus(Hons), Gerard moved to London deepening his knowledge of Spanish music by studying flamenco with Francisco Antonio. Gerard has performed widely in Europe and is an national and international competition prizewinner. In July 2005, he made his South Bank debut at the Purcell Room with the Dillington Festival Ensemble. Gerard.com

Roland Chadwick

Roland Chadwick is a Composer, Guitarist and internationally acclaimed recording artist. A trained classical guitarist, he plays "anything with frets". Born in May 1957, Wollongong, NSW, Australia, Roland made his Sydney Opera House debut in 1988 and has since built a reputation as Australia’s master Guitarist/Composer. From 1979 to 1996 he lived and worked in Sydney as a performer and composer and in 1997 took a sabbatical in Los Angeles where he worked on developing a more personal compositional style. At the end of 1997 he moved to the UK and is now based in West London. Roland, also plays with Roland Gallery and Vincent Lindsey Clark in The Modern Guitar Trio. His website.

Antonio De Innocentis

Antonio was born in Naples in 1961. In 1985 he was awarded ‘Summa cum Laude’ at the D. Cimarosa Conservatory in Avellino, Italy. From 1983 to 1990 he attended Master Classes by Eliot Fisk in Florence, at the Vienna Conservatory and at the Salzburg Mozarteum. He gave his first concert in 1980 and apart from playing all over Europe, he regularly holds tours in the USA. He has won first prize in several guitar competitions including Pesaro (2nd National Contest, 1981), Bardolino (4th International Contest, 1981) and Genoa(4th National Contest ‘P. Taraffo’, 1984). He was the first guitarist in the world to have performed the entire ‘24 Caprices’ by N. Paganini in one single concert (Avellino, Italy, 1992).

Mr. De Innocentis has premiered and published several works composed especially for him. Important composers who have dedicated their works to him include John W. Duarte, Larry Cooperman, John Bent, Pasquale Bifulco from the USA, Jonatas Batista-Neto from Brazil, Luigi Arbolino and Marcello Parisi from Italy, Peter Stewart from Scotland and Neil Smith from England. In addition to performing actively, he gives Master Classes (Florence and Giugliano, Italy; Frensham Heights, England; Oatridge Festival, Aberdeen and Glasgow, Scotland; San Diego and Fresno, California, USA; Turner, Maine, USA) and teaches regularly at the “A. Ruggiero” School in Caserta, Italy. He has also been juryman in International Guitar Contests. His performances are broadcasted by several US TVs and Radio Stations in California, Maine, Iowa.

His first recording “Guitar Recital” (Fiammant Records, 1997), reviewed by Classical Guitar Magazine, UK, and New Millennium Guitar Magazine, USA, contains works by Scarlatti, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Dyens and others, including Asturias by Albeniz played in its original key of G minor. His second CD “Premiere!” (Fiammant Records, 2004) features the world premiere recording of the Twelve Studies op. 140 and Prelude, Canto and Toccata op. 38 by J. Duarte as well as Four Pieces by L. Arbolino and contains also Fauré’s Pavane op. 50, Scarlatti’s Three Sonatas and Joplin’s Two Ragtimes. He has published some of his transcriptions and revisions in Italy and the USA(California, Florida). In September 1998 and October 2000 Classical Guitar Magazine’s music supplement was dedicated to his transcriptions and, in March 2003, he was also interviewed by the prestigious magazine.In October 1999, kindly invited by Mrs. Dorothy Duarte, he took part in John Duarte’s 80th birthday concert at the Bolivar Hall, Embassy of Venezuela, in London. Among his recent engagements have been several world premieres in presence of the composers: the Twelve Studies op. 140 by John Duarte, at the 6th Oatridge International Guitar Festival (Scotland, 2001), where was invited as guest artist; Bless Me, Ultima by Larry Cooperman, at the Guitar Foundation of America International Convention 2001, in La Jolla, California (please see www.newmillguitar.com); Povero Pietro! by Peter Stewart at St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh (2002); Passacaglia by Marcello Parisi as well as Luigi Arbolino’s To Reminisce and Return to Glenmore (July-August 2003) in Scotland again.

He also regularly performs with the prestigious Edith Ferguson’s Ensemble in Glasgow and at Kellie Castle for the National Trust for Scotland, and appeared also at the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain (please see www.bestguitarfest.com), Wirral (Liverpool, 2001). Moreover, since 2000 he has toured the USfive times, and, so far, he has performed in California, Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, Maine. In November 2003 Antonio went again to Scotland to give the Scottish Premiere of Claude Bolling’s Picnic Suite (for guitar, flute and jazz trio) with members of the Heisenberg Ensemble at Kellie Castle, Fife. In July 2004 has been invited to play in Wales with the NYGE Orchestra under the conduction of the famous English composer Gerald Garcia and, always in July 2004, he played for the EGTA Annual Conference at Cambridge. In December 2004 he founded the “John Duarte Guitar Quintet”, the name approved by Mrs Dorothy Duarte

Brad Richter

Brad taught himself to play guitar and compose at age 12. Six years later, with no formal musical training, he was awarded the Presidential Scholarship to the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. After graduating, he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with guitarist Carlos Bonell. He went on to win the Royal College of Music guitar competition before completing his Master's degree and returning to the US to continue his concert career.

Brad is well known as a soloist in North America and Europe. He regularly plays with orchestras and in duos with artists including the soprano Nancy Davis Booth and the cellist David Finkel, of the Emerson String Quartet. He is a frequent performer on radio and television in the US, and wrote the score to several episodes of a television series, The Desert Speaks.

Brad’s programmes consist mainly of his own compositions, which are inspired by the landscape of mountains and deserts in Tucson, Arizona (where he lives), and the folk stories of the Native North American Indians.

Tomás Jiménez & María José Garcia

Tomás Jiménez learned to play flamenco guitar from his father. The love for flamenco had been in the family for generations and just as his grandfather taught his father he then passed that knowledge onto Tomás. Much later Tomás has attended master classes with prominent flamenco guitarists such as Gerardo Núñez and Paco Cruz and these have been very useful but it is his father’s teaching that is principally responsible for the direction he has taken. Tomás Jiménez chose London as the springboard for his career and was engaged to teach flamenco guitar at the Spanish Guitar Centre in Central London.

María José was born in Cartagena(Spain) which is in the region of Murcia on the South East Mediterranean coast. She studied flamenco and classical Spanish dance and gained the title of Bailarina Profesional (professional dancer) from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Madrid. She is capable of producing fast powerful Zapateado (the flamenco footwork) but she does not overdo this. Maria uses dance to express the true sentiment of each flamenco form.
Flamenco is a music that is best expressed freely without the constraints of a set programme Tomás will choose the pieces he plays spontaneously and in collaboration with María José García. The flamenco repertoire is in fact very extensive. The compositions can be solemn, joyous, fast and forceful, gentle and lyrical etc. The whole gamut of emotions should be present in a flamenco concert. Pieces are influenced by all the cultures that have passed through Andalucía and contributed to the creation of flamenco.

Concordia Guitar Duo (Dennis Cooke, Nick Hartley)

The Concordia Guitar Duo was formed in 1991 and has since given regular concerts in and around London for Music Societies and Guitar Societies, lunchtime concerts in city churches, and recitals for various charities. Both guitarists, Dennis Cooke and Nick Hartley, have had experience of other styles of music, ranging from Folk-Blues to Jazz and in Nick’s case this included playing clarinet and alto sax. Dennis is mostly self-taught but had short periods of study with John Williams and Tim Walker in the early 1980s and has more recently participated in master classes with David Russell and John Mills among others. Nick studied with Sue Court and John Taylor, gaining a performer’s diploma (LTCL) in 1985. As well as participating in master classes by Julian Byzantine, Gordon Crosskey and Gerald Garcia, Nick has played in various ensembles including Gilbert Biberian’s ‘Omega Players’

Doug Turner/Memphis and Gary Ormond

Doug Turner/Memphis

Memphis has played with artists as diverse as Toots and the Maytels, The Last Poets – who were one of the early rap bands fromAmerica-Jack Radics, Jamaican recording artists, and numerous other groups and artists.Doug has played guitar professionally in many different styles since 1963: with American country singer Johnny Duncan, Houston Wells and the Marksmen (who were the first country band to record in England in 1964). Doug has also worked with Chas and Dave, and Rod Davies of John Lennon’s original Quarrymen. He plays in various jazz styles, including the Chet Atkins fingerstyle.

Gary Ormond

Gary was born in Doncaster in August 1974. He began learning the guitar at age 12, taught by his father Gordon. After 2 years, he continued his studies with Peter Wiltschinsky, of the Hill / Wiltschinsky guitar duo. Gary was awarded a place at the City of Leeds College of Music, where he studied with Graham Wade. After three years with Graham, Gary achieved his degree with honours and embarked on a career in guitar teaching. In addition to his endeavours on the classical guitar, Gary has become a proficient electric rock guitarist and bassist, and teaches these instruments as well. He lives and works in Watford.

John Duarte Guitar Quintet

Played Concerto Le Grazie (1997) by Gerald Garcia, English Suite No. 5 (John Duarte) and Fantasia para un Gentilhombre by Joaquin Rodrigo (1999). The quintet (Antonio De Innocentis, Claudio Cecere, Paolo Mauriello, Marcello, Parisi, Ruocco Panico) were formed in December 2004, following the sad news of Maestro John Duarte’s death. John Duarte has been one of the greatest composers the guitar has ever had and being lucky to know him personally and having the high honour to be counted amongst his friends, I thought to entitle our quintet to him, who so much loved the guitar. My friends and colleagues also got the lucky chance to meet him once just in Caserta, when Jack, in 2002, came to visit us at home.

So, I informed dear Mrs Dorothy Duarte of our wish and asking her permission too and she graciously allowed us to call ourselves the “John Duarte Guitar Quintet”, also sending her best wishes for our activity. So, we all thank her so much for that. (Reproduced with kind permission of Antonio De Innocentis)

Steve Yates

Stephen has been a regular performer at Ealing for over 10 years. He has won several awards, which include the Vicente Sanchis Guitar Challenge, and has been voted Guitarist magazine’s ‘Guitarist of the Year’. As a classical player he performs a wide-ranging repertoire from baroque through romantic to contemporary works. At the other end of the musical spectrum he also performs on the electric guitar, playing audacious and breathtaking.

John Clarke

John has had a long association with the Ealing Guitar Society, having performed primarily classical guitar music regularly from 1972, and occasionally flamenco in the last five years. He has studied with some of most prominent teachers in the field, including Alirio Diaz, Turibio Santos and John Duarte. John teaches classical and flamenco guitar full-time. John played: Sarabande & Bouree (from lute suite no. 1)by JS Bach , 2 Sonatas by D Scarlatti, as well as 5 Blues for Guitar by Tim Royal.

Student, Robin Sheffield (classical guitar), also played a selection of pieces by Ferrer, Montreuil and duetted with John Clarke with "Ballet" by Praetorius

About us

Ealing Guitar Society has been acting as a source of live guitar music since 1969 in the West London area. We welcome both players and listeners of guitar music alike and are proud to have counted amongst our members and performers a number of well-known and aspiring players.

Since our inaugural meeting over 40 years ago, performers at the society have included Carlos Bonnell, Antonio de Innocentis, Flavio Cucchi, Nigel North, Philip John Lee, Rose Andresier, Brad Richter, Gilbert Biberian, Liona Boyd, Luis Zea, Joy Hyman, Juan Martin, Greg Nestor, David Russell, David Parsons, Alfonso Montes . .

There have also been several BBC young performers, as well as students of the leading UK schools of music (Royal Academy, Royal Northern College, Royal College of Music and London College of Music).

Meetings are held regularly, at 7.30pm on the first Sunday of each month, at St. Matthew's Church Hall, North Common Road, Ealing, very close to Ealing Common and Ealing Broadway stations.

The focal point for the Society has always been to promote interest in the guitar and other fretted instruments ( i.e. banjo, bouzouki, dulcimer, lute,mandolin and sitar).  The guitar has also been combined with flute, piano, recorder, violin and voice.

St Matthews Church, Ealing W5