Jose Luis Ruiz del Puerto (Spain)

"He is a true Spanish cultural ambassador" This is how the prestigious specialist magazine Classical Guitar described his artistic work. Ruiz del Puerto is considered one of the strongest assets within the contemporary Spanish guitar scene and his extensive dedication to the dissemination of current Spanish music has earned him international recognition. The figure of the composer LLácer Pla, with whom he studied musical analysis and composition techniques, exerted a notable influence on his aesthetic and musical development and awakened his interest in contemporary music, a field in which he has achieved important successes: He has led to the creation of nearly 50 new works for guitar, such as those composed to commemorate the Centenary of the Birth of Federico García Lorca, the Centenary of the Birth of Joaquín Rodrigo, the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Francisco Tárrega or the 20th Anniversary of the Death of Andrés Segovia. Numerous Spanish composers have dedicated their scores to him and he has made premieres and first recordings of works by many of them. He has given various lectures and master classes on contemporary guitar, has written for the specialist magazine Acordes and has published several educational books on guitar learning. He is a founding member of the Valencia International Guitar Days, artistic director of the Alhambra International Guitar Competition and, as a teacher, he teaches classes in the Guitar Department of the José Iturbi Conservatory in Valencia. Ruiz del Puerto usually plays with an Alhambra Guitar model José Miguel Moreno Series C. For more information: http://ruizdelpuerto.com