Antonio Membrado (21 March 1935 – 3 December 2016) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

classical guitarist and composer resident in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

since 1959. He was a student of

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987), was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia ...

and gave many concerts in France and abroad.

Biography

Membrado was born in Madrid. In 1945, he started playing the ''

laúd Laúd () is a plectrum-plucked chordophone from Spain, played also in diaspora countries such as Cuba and the Philippines. The laúd belongs to the cittern family of instruments. The Spanish and Cuban instruments have six double courses i ...

'', a plectrum-plugged string instrument popular in Spain and used in rondallas (small ensembles plucking instruments with plectrum such as bandurria or laúd, and with fingers, such as guitar). At age 13, the guitarist Manuel Hernandez initiated his future musical career. He also studied the piano at the Madrid Conservatory with the pianist and composer Pedro Carre. In 1952, Membrado met

Regino Sainz de la Maza Regino Sainz de la Maza y Ruiz (7 September 1896 – 26 November 1981) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer. Biography Sainz de la Maza was born in Burgos. At ten, he got his first guitar and started his musical studies with Santiago La ...

and entered the Madrid Academia guitar class. In 1956, he won the Madrid Conservatory Extraordinary Prize. At 17, he also began to appear in his first guitar recitals in Spain. At 21, he met

for the first time at the

Accademia Musicale Chigiana The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Class ...

in Italy, which he attended until 1959. Andrés Segovia asked Membrado to deliver the Academy closing concerts in 1958 and 1959. In September 1956, Antonio Membrado won the First Medal of the International Competition in Geneva. In this year, his international career began with appearances in France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, the United States, etc. From 1963 he published LP recordings of works by Vivaldi, Schubert, Bach, Villa-Lobos, Brouwer, Burchard, Milan, and some of his own works, including a live recording of his concert at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 1975. Membrado also arranged works for the singer Paco Ibáñez and accompanied him on his first LP in 1964. In addition to his performing career, Membrado served as guitar teacher at the national academy of

Bourg-la-Reine Bourg-la-Reine () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. History In 1792, during the French Revolution, Bourg-la-Reine (meaning "Town of the Queen") w ...

, where he trained numerous pupils, many of them embracing professional music careers. He also took part in many festivals including Strasbourg, Lille, Troyes, Bern, Avignon, Saint-Tropez, Carcassonne, etc., and delivered several master-classes, e.g. at Les Arcs, Evian and Carcassonne. Membrado gradually withdrew from the public stage; his last concert dated 4 July 1991 at the World Congress of Quantum Chemistry at the

Palace of Europe The Palace of Europe () is a building located in Strasbourg, France, that has served as the seat of the Council of Europe since 1977 when it replaced the "House of Europe". Between 1977 and 1999 it was also the Strasbourg seat of the European Par ...

. He then devoted himself to a more intimistic approach of music and also composes works for one or two guitars on poems or texts from Guillevic, Tagore, Jankelevich, Cioran, Rückert, etc. In 1995, a compilation album comprising three CDs of his major pieces recorded on LP was published.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Membrado, Antonio 1935 births 2016 deaths Composers for the classical guitar Spanish classical guitarists Spanish male guitarists Spanish emigrants to France Classical guitarists Musicians from Madrid Accademia Musicale Chigiana alumni