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The Sedish guitaris, Göran Söllscher, grew up in Kalmar on the east coast of Sweden and started to play the guitar at the age of 7. His musical education included studies at the Malmö Conservatory from 1975 to 1977, and at the Royal Conservatory of Copenhagen from 1976 to 1979.
Göran Söllscher embarked on an international career after winning the first prize at the “Concours International de Guitare” in Paris, in 1978. He has since toured throughout Europe, North and South America, China and Japan, giving recitals as well as performing as soloist with numerous orchestras. He performs regularly with all major Scandinavian orchestras, and has played with the Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo, Camerata Bern, English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and Chamber Orchestra of Europe, under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Alexander Gibson, Sixten Ehrling, Woldemar Nelsson, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. His repertoire is exceptionally wide, ranging from Renaissance music to well-known standard concertos for guitar and orchestra, to contemporary music often written especially for him.
In October 1991, Göran Söllscher was honored with an invitation to participate in the International Homage to Joaquin Rodrigo, celebrating the composer's 90th birthday, first in Madrid, and later in Puerto Rico. In June 1996, he was invited for a major tour in Japan that included appearances as a recitalist, as well as duo performances with violinist Gil Shaham and Japanese flutist Shigenori Kudo. In Spring 1998, he returned for another concert tour of Japan. Other recent appearances include solo recitals in the USA, England, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. In addition to his appearances with orchestras and recitals, he makes frequent appearances on radio and television.
As a Deutsche Grammophon recording artist, Göran Söllscher has, thus far, made eleven solo recordings including the complete lute works of J.S. Bach. In 1990, Deutsche Grammophon released his recording of three major works for guitar and orchestra-Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez and Concierto para un Gentilhombre, and Heitor Villa-Lobos' Guitar Concerto. More than 100,000 copies of this recording have been sold world-wide. His recording with violinist Gil Shaham, Paganini for Two, was listed among the ten best selling classical albums in the USA (May 1994, Billboard Magazine). In 1995, a recording was released, featuring the music of the Beatles arranged for solo guitar, and the following year, a recording featuring the works of Astor Piazzolla, in collaboration with French flutist Patrick Gallois was released. A recording of works by contemporary Scandinavian composers has been released on the Caprice label.
Göran Söllscher currently holds Sweden's sole guitar professorship at the Royal Conservatory in Stockholm. |
