Benjamin Dieter Salfield (born 11 December 1971) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

ist, composer,

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, promoter and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

Early life

Ben Salfield was born in

Barton-under-Needwood Barton-under-Needwood is a large village in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. Situated a mile from the A38, and located between Burton upon Trent and Lichfield. It had a population of 4,225 at the 2011 census. It is al ...

, Staffordshire, UK. His father, a German Jewish refugee, was children's psychiatrist Dr. Derek "Dieter" Salfield (1915-2006). Salfield's family settled in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, UK, when he was 9 years old, and he has lived there ever since. He began playing lute at 13 with Ian Thomson at

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

Guitar Studios. When his teacher moved away, he was mainly self-taught. His concert début was in December 1988, and shortly after he performed for the Lute Society at the Artworkers Guild, Queens Square, London. His first international recital was at the

Meschede Meschede () is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district Hochsauerlandkreis. Education One of the five branches of South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences (also: Fachh ...

Abteikonzerte, Cologne, Germany, in 1993, and his first full international tour – in the Czech Republic – took place three years later.

Lutenist

Salfield has performed as a soloist, as an

accompanist Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of ...

, and in ensemble with Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In August 2015 he gave four concert performances in the UK with his new duo partnership featuring Italian classical guitarist Andrea Dieci, and that November appeared in a series of concerts with him in Poland. BMG Magazine described the duo as "two of the world's finest musicians in their respective fields". Ben Salfield has been a Hannabach Strings artist since 2015.

Music Editions

In 2013, following his first music edition with Poland's 'Modran', Ben Salfield began producing editions of lute music for the English publishers, Peacock Press; he later signed a deal with Denmark's 'Bergmann Edition', for whom he now produces music for lute but with transcriptions for classical guitar.

Additional Information

In August 1994, Salfield fought the last reported duel on UK soil with swords. In January 2020, he began writing as a "political commentator and antisemitism campaigner" for The Times of Israel. In November 2020, the Conservative Party announced that Salfield would stand as a

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...

in the 2021 local elections in the

Cornwall Council Cornwall Council ( kw, Konsel Kernow) is the unitary authority for Cornwall in the United Kingdom, not including the Isles of Scilly, which has its own unitary council. The council, and its predecessor Cornwall County Council, has a tradition ...

ward of Lanner, Stithians &

Gwennap Gwennap ( kw, Lannwenep (village), Pluw Wenep (parish)) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is about five miles (8 km) southeast of Redruth. Hamlets of Burncoose, Comford, Coombe, Crofthandy, Cusgarne, Fernsplatt, Fr ...

, in which he failed to beat the incumbent. In May 2022, Ben Salfield was elected Chairman of the Camborne Branch Conservatives.

References

External links

Ben Salfield's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salfield, Ben Baroque musicians Jewish classical musicians 1971 births Living people People from Barton-under-Needwood People from Cornwall English lutenists