Alberto Ponce
Alberto Ponce is a French
classical guitarist and renowned teacher of Spanish origin born in
1935 in
Madrid,
Spain.
Alberto Ponce's father was his first teacher. When he was a child he entered the Municipal Conservatory of
Barcelona, Spain, where, in addition to guitar, he studied piano, harmony and chamber music. He left the Conservatory with a diploma and an Honorable Mention and then met a person who would have a major influence on his career:
Emilio Pujol. The great Catalan maestro advised him to enter the
Lisbon Conservatory. After three years of study Ponce perfected his technique with him at the
Accademia Chigiana di Siena, where he increased his knowledge of the music of the Spanish Golden Age. In 1961 he won first prize at the International Competition in Paris, organized by Radio France. In 1962,
Nadia Boulanger asked him to teach at the Fontainebleau Conservatory. In the same year he was asked to become a professor at the Ecole Normale of music in Paris by
Alfred Cortot, the director. Here he has had an unprecedented pedagogical career, having created one of the most prolific schools of contemporary guitar. For many years Alberto Ponce was one of the few guitarists to dedicate himself continually to both early and contemporary music. Thanks to him, new compositions have been created (he has been the godfather of the works of
Maurice Ohana and compositions have been dedicated to him by Chayne,
Dyens, Ravier,
Ruiz-Pipo). He taught at the
National Conservatory of Paris and teaches at the
Ecole Normale of music in Paris.
*
L'art de la guitar*
Si le jour paraît Composer :
Maurice Ohana (1914-)
Orquesta Filarmonica del Prado ; Daniel Chabrun, conducter.
Arion ARN 38 240. p 1974.
*
Roland Dyens*
Official artist website*
Interview (Italian)*
Master class
