Recital: Pavel Ralev and Michael Butten
– classical guitars

The Programme

Pavel Ralev and Michael Butten
– classical guitars

Prelude and Fantasia

Flat Pavan
Galliard to the Flat Pavan

Suite No 2 in G minor, Z661
Prelude and Saraband

Suite in E minor, BWV 996
Sarabande

Partita No 3, BWV 1006
Gavotte en Rondeau

Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Op 9

Nocturne

Cinq Préludes
3. Homage to Bach

Lo que vendra
(arr. Delia Estrada)

The Artists

Michael Butten is a British classical guitarist. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Michael Lewin. He has performed solo in some of the most prestigious venues, including Wigmore Hall, Sage Gateshead, Saffron Hall, and the Berio Saal in Vienna Konzerthaus. He has also had much success in competitions, such as being the 2020 New Elizabethan Award holder, 2nd prize in the 2019 GFA ICAC, the Bach Prizes in the 2018 and 2019 Koblenz International Guitar Competitions, the Julian Bream Prize in his first year of study, the David Russell Prize in his final year, as well as being the first guitarist to win the RAM Club Prize.

Michael is currently working on a new solo album, juxtaposing English Renaissance lute music with British contemporary works they have inspired, and his debut CD of John Dowland works has received praise from critics and listeners.

Bulgarian guitarist Pavel Ralev has won several prizes from international competitions, including 1st prizes at the 2021 Adelaide and Zagreb Guitar Competitions, 2019 Plovdiv GuitArt and Pleven Guitar Festivals, as well as the Bach prize at the 2020 Koblenz Guitar Competition. In 2020 he was a EuroStrings Artist and was selected on the International Guitar Foundation’s Young Artist Platform.

Pavel has performed at Kings Place Hall One, St James’s Piccadilly, Duke’s Hall, Bulgarian National Opera House and has been broadcast on the Bulgarian National Radio and Television. He has appeared at the IGF Guitar Summit, London Guitar Festival and festivals in Bulgaria, Hungary, Portugal, Croatia and Sarajevo.

Pavel was awarded a full scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with Michael Lewin, David Russell and Fabio Zanon. He later became a Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music and completed his Master’s degree with distinction at the University of Surrey with Stephen Goss.