JOSEP MANZANO - BIOGRAPHY                            

Born in Girona, he was initially self-taught on the guitar. He later studied with Luis Neras in Girona

and Manuel Gonzalez in Barcelona where he obtained the Superior Title at the Liceo

Conservatory of Music in Barcelona. Along with this he has also attended several courses on

musical performance, particularly those with David Russell.

He has performed numerous concerts and recordings for radio and television, as a soloist but also

as part of a chamber group or larger instrumental ensembles. In addition to his performances

throughout Catalonia and the Spanish State, has been invited to participate in various music and

guitar festivals in countries like Mexico, Italy, France, Germany, England, Bulgaria, Switzerland

and Serbia, to give concerts and master classes or to be a member of a jury in competitions.

Since the year 2000 he has played regularly with the flamenco guitarist Xavier Ballesteros, with

whom he recorded a CD in 2004 of works by Albeniz, Granados and de Falla. Since the year

1998, he has been a member of the Dinosaurios, a poetry-music group, with whom he produced

and edited a CD in 2005. He has toured with the Bulgarian flautist, Nicolai Yordanov. He recently

worked with the flautist, Esteve Zulet, and the Joan Sadurní trio, playing the suites of Claude

Bolling. More recently he has formed a new partnership with the English guitarist Carlos Garcia-

Benitez with whom he has performed a number of guitar duo concerts in the last year and who

enthusiastically agreed to collaborate on this recording. A further CD of guitar Duets with Carlos

Garcia-Benitez will be released in early 2010.

As a soloist he has recorded two CDs: "Tarrega and his legacy" (2002) with works by Francisco

Tarrega, Emilio Pujol and Miguel Llobet and "Tarrega: The 35 Preludes and Studies."

He is guitar teacher at the Gironés School of Music and the Music Academy, Compte, in Girona,

where he developed a wide teaching base. He is also founder of the Girona-Costa Brava Guitar

Festival.