Who are your Guitar Heroes?
Hey tonebuddies!
Let's talk about our guitar heroes and who inspired us to pick up the instrument in the first place. Whether it's the iconic Andrés Segovia, the virtuosic John Williams, or the contemporary genius Ana Vidovic, we all have those classical guitarists who have left an indelible mark on us. 
So, who are your guitar heroes? What makes them special to you? Is it their technique, their interpretation of the music, or their unique sound? Share with us their videos and recordings 
that have blown your mind. 
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My guitar hero is Johannes Moller (https://johannesmoller.com/). His guitar compositions completely out of this world. It's hard for me to pick something in particular (My top 3 will be: Ananda, Ethereal dreams, Broken mirrors) (https://www.youtube.com/@johannes81/videos). Beside being a composer he is a great player too and the guitars he producing with true temperament frets just outstanding (https://johannesmoller.com/sueno-series).
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Slava He is awesome! I had a MasterClass with him on Future Hope. This was composed for the children who live in the Indian garbage dumps. Such a compassionate, creative and resourceful young man.
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Slava Love Johannes. I even like his innovative and somewhat crazy late night improvisations, as he calls them on his YouTube channel.
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My Dad took me to a concert of the Romero's in Pasadena, CA over 50 years ago and my interest in the classical guitar has never left me! Of course ,the Romeros but I have in the past have enjoyed Steidl, Vidovic, Vieaux, and Russell to name a few. But Tonebase has opened my mind to a staggering number of new and upcoming fantastic players!!! The future is quite bright!!11
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John Williams performed in a TV program hosted by Peter Sensier in the early 1970s. It was all about the life of Agustine Barrios and John played many works and explained the music and composition style. It was amazing and that was it for me, I had to learn to play classical guitar. I had chance to speak with Mr Williams last September and I mentioned this TV program and he was amazed that I could remember the program. I mentioned it was life changing for me and thanked him for his music and the incredible inspiration he has given to me and so many others musicians. From then on I listed to as many musicians as possible. Julian Bream of course and many other guitarists. Vladimir Mikulka was also an inspiration and I especially like his Bach recordings…Darko Petrinjak and Carlos Bonell were very influential and I studied with them both for a around 8 years..Thank you to everyone at Tonebase as you have inspired me to play so much more in my older years…
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I would like to mention David Russell, por his accuracy and expression, Marcyn Dylla for his fluency and Paco de Lucía for everything.
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I started out as a self taught guitarist at the age of 12 /13 after listening to Eric Clapton and Cream. I was the on the pursuit of greatness. My dad played classical piano so led me down the road of his music, Mario Lanza Donkey Serenade to name one. He also introduced me to Julian Bream. I got into classical at the age of 23, and did a couple grades and moved on. It’s only during Covid that I got back into classical, there are so many talented players now that it’s difficult to chose any individual. Tone base is possibly the best alternative to a teacher, in some cases better due to the diversity of music and styles.
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Early days: Segovia ("The Great Master"), Bream, Williams, Parkening, Rey de la Torre; Sabicas; The Romeros.
Hendrix, Clapton, Jeff Beck, Page (Rock guitar main influences)
Nowadays: Russell, Dylla, Celil Refik Kaya, Ana Vidovic, Jorge Caballero, Grisha Goryachev
Neal Schon, Steve Lukather, Eric Johnson
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Barney we have exceedingly similar tastes!
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Stephen Darrell Oliver Good to hear Stephen!
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Lorenzo Micheli and Rafael Aguirre.
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When I started with the guitar (1978) my heroes were Segovia, Williams, Bream, and Paco de Lucia. Some years later I had classes with Nestor Ausqui and your passion for the guitar was really inspiring to me. Later my list grew with more names like Sérgio and Odair Assad, Eduardo Fernández, David Russel, and Los Romeros. At a particular time, I stopped to collect heroes, but I admire many guitar players from the new - and not-so-new - generation!
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Whew this thread is getting me thinking. Antigoni Goni was the first classical guitarist I’d heard at a concert at the Wausau Conservatory in Wisconsin that completely floored me with musicality. Sharon Isbin whom I was fortunate to study with in Aspen during summers. Judicaël Perroy, Stephen Robinson, Stephanie Jones, Ana Vidovic, Julian Bream, John Williams, so so many more!
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The artists who inspired me as a pre-teen to immerse myself in the classic guitar, both listening and playing, were Bream and Williams. Williams for his unmatched (at the time) virtuosity and Bream for his interpretations, unique application of colors, and most of all, for promoting 20th century music with his recordings of Bennet, Britten, Berkely, Henze, Martin, and others.
Currently, there are too many incredible virtuosi to even count, and that being said, I do not enjoy all of them from an interpretive/emotional-expression perspective. (Such as John Wiliams - sorry!) Some of the many for whom I love their interpretations include: Smits ( https://youtu.be/Jcy7E4uHYK8 ), Micheli ( https://youtu.be/adY11ATkeJY ), Starobin (https://youtu.be/_sUu3rCpYfU), Seres ( https://youtu.be/mdCostM3e-U ), Kulikova ( https://youtu.be/vuzrnyBs0CU ), Edson Lopes ( https://youtu.be/UxROvZRdjkM ), and pretty much anything Andrew York, especially his microtonal works. I'll stop there... too many to keep going!
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Peter I spent some beautiful moments this morning listening to your playlist. So inspiring! Thanks for sharing.
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Besides Celil Refik and Anabel Montesinos I thought I would mention Marcus Tardelli. He is quite obscure, you probably won´t find him on social networks, there´s some info here:
https://www.musica-extraordinaria.com/tardelli
And on this link a video with latest performances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y48uaabeQz8
What really dazzles me it´s the emotion he can pass to the listener. Also incredible it´s his way of orchestral thinking, for example he uses the left hand thumb for 5 note voicings, bringing this cello or double bass technique to the classical guitar.
On the electrical guitar, my hero is my younger brother. Just turned 33, teaches jazz since he was 15.
https://www.manefernandes.com/
After completing a master in Denmark, he has a new project ENTER THE sQUIGG, that we are touring at the moment. Rich in rhythm modulations, following the studies of Malcolm Braff http://general-theory-of-rhythm.org/
Hope you like them.
Cheers
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I started with Jeff Beck, Clapton and Hendrix (all in concerts). Then Ry Cooder and Joe Pass (again in concerts).
For Classical: I started with John Williams and Julian Bream, then David Starobin and Sharon Isbin.
Currently I am very impressed with Marcin Dylla, Lorenzo Michelli, Mateusz Kowalski.
This is ridiculously short with many not mentioned.
Oh yeah!!! I just saw a YT of Mircea playing Bogdanovic's Balkan Miniatures (1-3) that was amazing!!! Check it out.
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Jack Stewart Wow! Mircea broke the leg! Great performance! Thank you for sharing this, Jack!
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Christopher Parkening. Heard his album “Parkening Plays Bach” playing overhead in a Christian bookstore when I was a teenager. I grew up on R&B, pop, and gospel music. Hearing Parkening was a huge part of my introduction to classical music.
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After listening to Yang Xuefei's sketches of China album, I'll have to say she is my newest guitar hero. The sound that she creates from the guitar is amazing. Not even sure how she does it.
