About Andres Segovia: Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquess of Salobreña (Linares, 1893 – Madrid, 1987), was without a doubt one of the finest and most remarkable guitarists of the 20th century. He is remembered for his distinctive musical personality in tone, phrasing and style. Many consider him to be the father of the “classical guitar”. After there had been rumors that he would retire, a concert was organised on February 13, 1974, in the Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center, New York. Segovia returned to the scene with this exact program. The only uncertainty is whether Etude No.1 or No.8 was played, so both are represented here. Another liberty that was taken for the sake of coherence was the inclusion of the complete Cello Suite BWV 1007 in stead of the three movements that Segovia had selected (Prelude, Sarabande, Menuet). About Jan Depreter: Jan Depreter (Antwerpen, 1975) is Belgium's prince of the classical guitar. The youngest and last guitarist ever in Belgium to win his 1st Prize Concert Diploma at the Lemmensinstituut of Leuven with highest honours, Jan Depreter went on obtaining superior Master Degrees in Music at the Royal Conservatories of Antwerp and The Hague, in the class of Zoran Dukic. Perfecting his art under the tutelage of exceptional international masters such as Narcisso Yepes, Manuel Barrueco, David Russell, Oscar Ghiglia and many others, in just 5 years Jan Depreter gained his place amongst the stars of the guitar being a prize-winner 18 times in the world’s major classical guitar competitions, winning them five times. For his accomplishments in music, Jan Depreter was decorated by H.R.H. Queen Fabiola of Belgium in 2006. Since 1993 Jan Depreter is a devoted guitar teacher at the Academies of Antwerp. After becoming professor of guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp between 2001 and 2003, he went on to give international master classes regularly in Japan, Mexico and China. As a performer Jan Depreter has topped the bills of prestigious international music festivals in over 30 countries all over the world. He has played in opera houses, castles and major concert halls in Tokyo, Beijing, Mexico City, Morelia, Miami, Milan, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Kiev and many more. After retiring from the competition scene in 2006 Jan Depreter went on to become a composer writing for the guitar. His works for solo guitar are published and available at www.metropolis-music.com and www.ricordi.de / www.ricordishop.de In 2010 – besides the release of his new album “The Segovia Concert” – Jan Depreter has founded Rode Productions, to organise and co-star alongside guitar legend “Harry Sacksioni 60” in a series of masterclasses and concerts, drawing crowds of thousands of guitar lovers. He is the Artistic Director of the Antwerpen Guitar Festival & Competition 2011. What other people say about Jan Depreter: “He plays like a God” – Eduardo Fernandez "The Vladimir Horowitz of the guitar." - René Hermans “Without a doubt one of the top ten players. In the world.” – Odair Assad “An exceptionally gifted musician with a bright future in the guitar” – John Duarte “I have never heard a better performance of my works” – Armand Coeck “Amazing fingers” – Scott Tennant “Thank you for the piece ‘The Isle of Skye’. It is absolutely beautiful and you play it very well. I am honoured by your wish to dedicate it to me.” – David Russell About the program: During the 7 years of researching Andrés Segovia’s come-back program, Jan consulted some of his most famous friends and students all over the world, including Mr. Akinobu Matsuda (JAPAN), Dr. Ronald Purcell (USA), Oscar Ghiglia (Italy) and John W. Duarte (ENGLAND). One year ago, after reading a very old issue of the Japanese Gendai Guitar Magazine (1974) featuring an actual program of Segovia, Jan started the difficult task of trying to track down the real pieces Segovia played that evening. As Dr. Purcell said to Jan Depreter: “Andrés Segovia, when pushed by his manager to give a program before the concert, would often be very vague about it and did not so much give the real titles of the pieces as more how he felt about them.” The Head of the Department of Guitar Makers at Yamaha Corporation Japan, Mr. Hideyuki Ezaki, actually gave Jan Depreter the idea when they met in Tokyo back in 2002. Apparently Yamaha had developed a “special guitar” following the instructions of Andrés Segovia himself. In november 2010, while on tour in Japan, Jan Depreter was invited by the Yamaha Corporation of Japan to further test and elaborate on the development of this instrument in the future. The three concerts in Belgium of “The Segovia Concert” were immediately sold out and were referred to by many as “the best guitar concert they’d ever heard”. After his succesful tour in Japan, the CD was presented on national radio (KLARA) and nominated "Best Classical CD of the Year" by luthier Lara Seidel. The Segovia Concert closed the National Guitar Day at the Hasselt Conservatory on the 13th of February 2011, to the day exaclty 37 years after Segovia played his concert in New York. Jan Depreter on "The Segovia Concert": “It is impossible to overestimate the importance of Andrés Segovia for the guitar in the 20th century. In a time where it is considered trendy to discard the man behind the myth, I think it is important to remind ourselves without him we would never have had guitar music by the likes of Tansman, Villa-Lobos, Ponce, Milhaud, Poulenc, Ohana, Moreno-Torroba, Turina, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and so many others. Segovia made the guitar sing. He gave her a voice. This should not be forgotten.” -J.D.