Jad Azkoul

Programme to include works by Stephen Dodgson, Villa-Lobos, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Roland Dyens and Francisco Tárrega, including some pieces played on a perfect reproduction of the 1856 Torres model `La Leona’ guitar.

Jad Azkoul was born in New York when his father was representing Lebanon to the United Nations. In high school and university he played the electric guitar, and turned to full time music study only after doing a BA and MA in experimental psychology at the American University of Beirut. There followed ten years of intensive study, first in Boston for two years of jazz studies, and then five in Paris in guitar and composition, with such greats as Nadia Boulanger and Pierre Petit.

The last three years were spent in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he was invited to study the new school of guitar developed by the virtuoso guitarist and composer, Abel Carlevaro. The maestro was so impressed with his student that he later selected him as one of his privileged teaching assistants.

He has since developed a career as a performer and teacher of the classical guitar, and gives masterclasses in many countries of the world. The prestigious American String Teachers Association (ASTA), for example, invited him on more than one occasion to serve as their exclusive guitar clinician at their national conventions. He has also been invited to adjudicate at several international guitar competitions.

He has been giving annual Master classes in France since 1985, and now conducts 2 summer workshops/Masterclasses in France every year.

There are two CDs that were recorded for the French label Forlane and which have been highly acclaimed. They are available on Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon, as well as many other internet sites.

In addition to solo performances, he also enjoys doing chamber music. As founding member of the Gentlemen Quartet he did a lot of interesting arrangements for this unusual formation (violin, cello, flute and guitar). He was also a founding member of the International Tango Quintet in which he played his first instrument, the electric guitar, a vintage custom Telecaster from 1969.

In concert Jad plays on a beautiful Italian guitar by luthier Enrico Bottelli, as well as on a wonderful George Lowden guitar from Northern Ireland.

His pedagogical activities are now divided between the London College of Music in England and the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique, Danse et Théâtre in Geneva in Switzerland.

Jad now lives and teaches in London. The first of his new series of monthly articles on the Carlevaro School of guitar was published in the June 2014 issue of Classical Guitar magazine.

He has two sons who are both very musical: the younger, Mike, is a a talented hip hop artist while the older, Julian, is a very fine violinist, with whom he often gives duo concerts of violin and guitar.