Recital: Eleftheria Kotzia – guitar

The Programme

Eleftheria Kotzia – guitar

Three Preludes
1. Tristango en vos
2. Preludio tristón
3. Candombe en mi

Evocation

Mallorca

Tango
1. La cumparsita

Tango
2. El Choclo

Tango
3. Tango en Ski

Fuoco

The Artist

Described by USA Review as doing for the Greek soul what flamenco does for the Spanish, Eleftheria Kotzia has toured regularly in Europe, Canada, the United States, South America, North Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East. She has performed both as a soloist and with orchestras at many of the great International Guitar and Music Festivals.

Among her teachers have been Julian Bream, Alexandre Lagoya, Dimitri Fampas, David Russell and Timothy Walker. She was the winner of the first prize in the 6th International Guitar Competition in Milan.

Eleftheria has an impressive list of recordings to her credit. Among them the first recording of Michael Tippett’s The Blue Guitar, which was described as ‘life-enhancing’, enjoyed unanimous critical acclaim and was selected by Gramophone magazine as a Critic’s Choice Recording of the Year. The American Record Guide hailed her as ‘a wizard’ – ‘a strong sensuous player with bite and sass’. John Tavener’s only solo guitar work, Chant, was also recorded for the first time by her, on her CD ‘Mediterraneo’, in a special adaptation made for her by the composer.

Eleftheria Kotzia was a lecturer at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (2000-2015). She gives masterclasses and training courses around the world and is a frequent judge in international guitar competitions. Since 2007 she has been the director of the International Guitar Course and Festival in Ligoure, France.
https://www.eleftheria.info/

‘Eleftheria Kotzia holds the stage with the sort of presence I have not seen for a while. She has a robust character mixed with a quiet sensitivity. You could say it is something like the voraciousness of Julian Bream combined with a feminine delicacy of control, an alluring combination – all infused with the pizzazz of Greek spirit’ – Classical Guitar (Purcell Room – London).