Mariette Stephenson and Bridget Gerard, on the six women who have won the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition. Mary Akerman USA (1985) Margarita Escarpa Spain (1994) Antigoni Goni Greece (1995) Martha Masters USA (2000) Bokyung Byun South Korea (2021) Leonela Alejandro Puerto Rico (2024).
https://soundcloud.com/classical-guitar-heroines/series-1-episode-5-women-who-have-won-the-gfa-icac
interview in Spanish.
La guitarra fuera de España. Entrevista a Margarita Escarpa
05/05/2024
Conversamos sobre la guitarra fuera de España con Margarita Escarpa, profesora e intérprete de calado internacional. Cuántas veces nos han comentado nuestros invitados que la guitarra clásica tiene una gran acogida fuera de nuestro país, pero que no sucede lo mismo dentro de él…
For those that have asked me, here you are a few of my recent interviews, https://guitarmagazine.online/en/margarita-escarpa-guitar-interview/ in English, and a couple in Spanish https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BiOMIPQzbs and https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/vigo/vigo/2022/03/19/espana-dices-musico-vuelven-preguntar-tu-profesion/0003_202203V19C129911.htm
Last month I had the opportunity to be in the jury of a fantastic competition, organized from Kharkiv, Ukraine, in spite of the war and the difficult circumstances my greatest admiration and respect to the organizers: the HNUM. Kotlyarevsky, Vladimir Dotsenko, Viktoriia Tkachenko and all the team! An honour and a pleasure to be the president of such an extraordinary event
Almost 70 contestants participated in the competition, a real victory! Congratulations to all the participants!
Happy to share with all of you that I have been appointed Professor of guitar at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. What a great honour!
After breaking my left hand wrist in August 2019 and because of the pandemic, most of my last concerts have been canceled or rescheduled.
Although a complete return to normal life after the coronavirus pandemic is years away, I am very happy to announce that, taking all the precautions, I will be in a bunch of festivals this summer! - Portugal (Castelo-Branco, Guimarães), Spain (Petrer, Elche, Granada, Coria), Austria (Viena) , Croatia (Samobor) ... Can´t wait! (happy to share with you a photo of my "bionic" left hand)
So glad to have participated in so many great projects that have kept the guitar community alive and active during the Covid 19 pandemic
- Online contest José Tomás villa de Petrer "With my guitar at home 2020".
- Grandi Star per Paganini:
https://www.facebook.com/festivalpaganini/videos/265351154844177/
- Virtual Guitar Orchestra plays "Scient, Safe & Sane" by Sergio Assad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXotkK7M1fk&fbclid=IwAR3rbL-6a23bUdQ5LluFfTmlrh0N5mx_h2O9PJaHF5GJYGJXYBHdH3aCKT0
- Luigi Legnani: 36 Caprices op. 20 for 36 World Guitar Masters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX63Il4BTiM&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3nRvkYHB5JOYWcZsRolkBjVUsESslhh8pPQGGa_1xcIoAITUeoSQvCi54
Last August 2019 I fell over and got a distal radius fracture. Thanks to my good friend Miguel Trápaga Sánchez I found the best possible surgeon, Dr. Homid Fahandezh-Saddi Díaz. The operation was a success. I had my first concert in the Concertgebow- Amsterdam, dec 14th, for a wonderful audience, an ungorgetable experience that ended with a standing ovation. I am extremely thankful to both Dr. Homid and to Miguel, but also to a long list of professionals, friends and "guardian angels" that have been helping and supporting me during all the process.
GRACIAS, THANKS Dr Guillermo Rodríguez, Juan Valls Ferran, Ana Zamorano, Mayte Cereijo Gonzalez, Adiante Centro de fisioterapia, Beatriz González Gómez, Esther Steenbergen and Otto Vowinkel, David Russell and María Jesús Rodríguez Riveiro, Teresa Folgueira, Antonio Berdonés, Noemí Martínez Ortiz, Sandra Fernández, Lucía Riveiros, Tetyana Vyerkina and Peter Mchedlov, Dmytro and Oleksandr Ptymenko, Angelito Sy Agcaoíli, Enrique Sacristán, Ana sagalova, Mari Carmen Gallardo, Martin Knipper, Concepción Fernández Rodríguez, Paz Fernández Rodríguez, Mauro Fernández Rodríguez, Ventura Escarpa Vera, Ventura Escarpa, José Manuel Fernández González, Marta Vélez, Pedro Mateo, Hugo Geller, Fernando Espí, Jose M. Moreno Martin, Francisco-Javier Rodríguez Pacheco, Marivi Mateos y familia, Eugenia Biedma, Mercedes Sanpedro, Aniello Desiderio, Carlos y Marisa Molina, Ana Espinosa Rodriguez, Renè Baarslag, Vicente Coves Merino, Helen Sanderson, Zoran Krajisnik, Zoran Dukic, Thomas Offermann, Dimitri van Halderen, Luis Alfredo Betancourt Pindo, Nigel Smith, Raphaella Smits, Felix Justen, Jozsef Eotvos, Eötvös Zita, Elke and Hans Wilhelm Kaufmann, Hans Schuurman, Araceli Gasso, Silke Aichhorn, Marta Sancho Andrés, Isabel Seoane, Pedro J. Gómez, Uxía Quevedo,Pepe Payá, Manuel Gómez Ortigosa, Beatriz Arenas Lago, Daniel Arenas, Mira Van Kuijeren, Ramon Verberne, Bruno Ferreira, André Ferreira, Rebeca Oliveira, Anastasiia Shnyrova, Rostislav Golubov, Влад Инды, Olga Dotsenko, Vladimir Dotsenko, Stefan Trifan, Sung Jin Kim María Villanueva and all our students!
“... a musical sorceress … Margarita held the audience under her seductive and bewitching spell, …” THE TRIBUNE, Salt Lake City (USA)
Margarita is considered one of the greatest classical guitarists of our time who excels by her outstanding musicality and extraordinary sensitivity and subtlety.
Her versions of composers such as P. Soler, S. Albero, I. Albéniz, M. de Falla or C. Debussy have been showered with critic's acclaims and have become a bench mark for contemporary performers, as far as transcriptions and performances are concerned.
Margarita is also known as a dedicated and passionate teacher, and she attains a higher degree of perfection with the students who work with her.
“A first-class artist”, expressed María Luisa Anido when she first heard Margarita Escarpa play in 1990. In the same year, she recorded her first CD, produced by "Radio Television Española" about with C. Cooper, writing in Classical Guitar, said: “…she knows what she is doing... the overall impression is of a serious and thoughtful musician ... control of tempo, dynamics and mood are exemplary”.
These were the first steps in the professional development of this Spanish guitarist. She studied in the “Real Conservatorio Superior de Música” in Madrid where she was taught by the most important music teachers and she was exposed to the influence of the best guitar players of the time. She also holds a degree in mathematics from the “Universidad Autonoma de Madrid”.
While still a student, she won ten important awards, including the prestigious “20th Solo Guitar Competition” organised by the GFA (Guitar Foundation of America). These prizes together with her excellent qualities give her the opportunity of performing regularly for the most important International Festivals and at major venues in Europe, America and Asia, where she has received both public and critical acclaim: Amsterdam- Netherlands (Concertgebow), Budapest- Hungary (Franz Liszt Academy), US-GFA Festival, Festival International de Córdoba (Spain), Washington D.C-US ("The John E.Marlow Guitar Series”), (John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts), S. Francisco-US (Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts), Manila Guitar Festival (Philippines), Taipei Guitar Festival (Taiwan), Beijing Music Festival (China), London International Festival (UK), Festival International de Madrid (Spain), Koblenz International Guitar Festival (Germany), Festival International de Petrer (Spain), Festival International de Xalapa (México), Festival International de Elche (Spain), Festival International de Compensar (Bogotá-Colombia) Festival International de Coria (Spain), Alirio Diaz Festival (Venezuela). International Festival Mikulov (Czech Republic), Festival LIGITA (Liechtenstein), Festival International de Granada (Spain), Budapest International Festival (Hungary), Uppsala guitar Festival (Sweden), Nurtingen Guitar Festival (Germany) Santo Tirso Guitar Festival (Portugal), Festival International de Guitare de Paris (France), Festival International de Guayaquil (Ecuador), Festival International de Guadalajara (Mexico), …
Margarita Escarpa masters a broad solo and orchestral repertoire and she is specially noted for her programme choices and for her transcriptions, that have earned the admiration and praise of audiences and critics.
Her talent and character turns every performance into a unique musical experience, every note and every silent moment transforms into a magical perfection. The musicologist Arturo Tello Ruiz-Pérez confirms that Margarita Escarpa rightly occupies the highest echelons of the guitar Parnassus.
Margarita has also gained recognition as a committed guitar teacher that never stops learning with her students, always wanting the best for them. She is frequently invited worldwide to give Erasmus master-classes and courses in International festivals and at prestigious Institutions such as S. Francisco Conservatory (US), Fullerton University (US), Chicago Roosevelt University (US), Tucson-Arizona University (US), Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität (Austria) Universidad Internacional de Andalucía- Sede Antonio Machado (Spain) , Universidad Miguel Hernández (Elx-Spain), Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama(UK), Kharkiv National University of Arts (Ukraine), Liszt Academy (Budapest-Hungary), …
Margarita Escarpa plays a Matthias Dammann guitar (Germany) and since 2011 she is a "D'Addario artists". She recorded CDs for RTVE (Spanish Radio and Television group), Opera Tres, Naxos, La Ma de Guido and GHA Records.
In October 2021 she was appointed professor of guitar at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria.
When not teaching, practising or touring, Margarita can usually be found reading, catching up with friends, or jogging along the beach.
" … the best balance of intelligence and artistic style I have ever heard from a guitarist" DAVID LETKEMANN, GUITAR MAGAZINE, Winnipeg, (Canada)
“ … one of the giants of our small world… Intense, penetrating, engrossing, fascinating, spectacular, pure joy”. MATANYA OPHEE, ON-LINE MAGAZINE OF EDITIONS ORPHÉE., US.
“Finely wrought emotion, beautiful sound, and flawless technique … apparent ease and great panache. …”: SCOTT CMIEL , SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE (US)
“ … Brillante, audace, dal suono tafliato come prezioso diamante, … scultrice di rilievi chiaroscurali, poi pittrice generosa di tinte pregiate … … ascoltando Margarita Escarpa, o meglio, dedicando al suo recital línterezza dei sensi, si coglie senz´indugio quella cifra ineffabile e altresi immediata e percettibile detenuta solo dall´altra metà del cielo …”. PAOLO SANFILIPPO, GUITART (Italia).
“This artist´s innate musicality would be evident in any piece she might choose to apply herself, ... a talent of enormous stature. ...: STEPHEN HOOKER, “GUITAR NEWSLETTER”, Toronto (Canada).
“ … l’interprete vive davvero quello che sta suonando. Non ce lo racconta, non ce lo proietta come un film, ma lo partecipa dal profondo della sua sensibilità coinvolgendoci e commuovendoci. … Sa drammatizzare, sognare, danzare lanciandosi in ritmi serratissimi e galleggiare in una cantabilità liberissima. E così può osare. E osa, con l’autorità di chi può perché ha capito il linguaggio, il senso, il messaggio di quelle opere… Le sue interpretazioni sono forti, autorevoli, commosse, sentite con l’animo, oltrechè intelligentissime. L’artista sembra non sforzarsi per entrare nello spirito dei pezzi, perché questo spirito è già in lei … Ed è per questo che il pubblico ha vibrato insieme a lei. Ecco la magia che dovrebbe succedere nei concerti! NUCCIO D´ANGELO, Dotguitar.it (Italia)
“ … habitante por derecho en las laderas altas del parnaso guitarrístico… ARTURO TELLO RUIZ-PÉREZ. ROSETA (España)
“ Wie Perlen an einer Kette flossen die klaren, reinen Töne in unglaublicher Virtuosität im Kontrast zu den vollen temperamentvollen Akkorden von den sechs Saiten ihres Instrumentes… Margarita Escarpa verzaubert mit meisterhaften Klängen …” ROTENBURGER KREISZEITUNG (Germany)
“Con tan solo unos minutos de música, el público era consciente de que abría un recital sublime … lirismo excepcional… dulzura bailable … público visiblemente emocionado … facilidad y control a la hora de pintar diversos colores en la guitarra …. interpretación exquisita”: TERESA CAMARENA MORENO, “EL DÍA DE CÓRDOBA”, CÓRDOBA (España)