Kevin R. Gallagher is a

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

who plays both the electric guitar and the

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

. As a classical guitarist, he has received top honors at some of the most prestigious guitar competitions in the world, including the 1993 Guitar Foundation of America, the 1994

American String Teachers Association The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) is a professional organization for bowed string music teachers based in the United States. It is the largest organization in the U.S. for string teachers. ASTA serves teachers and students in all ar ...

, the 1993 Artists International Competition, and 1997 Francisco Tárrega Guitar Competition in Spain. As an electric guitarist, he is known for transcribing violin music for electric guitar and for founding the avant-rock ensemble Electric Kompany. He has also produced, in cooperation with

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

, a music festival titled "Full Force: The New Rock Complexity" that showcases bands that have combined styles such as classical, rock, jazz, and metal. He has produced a CD for

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

titled "Guitar Recital - Music from the Renaissance and Baroque,""Guitar Recital: Kevin Gallagher"
Naxos.com a duo CD with

Antigoni Goni Antigoni Goni (born 8 March 1969) is a Greek guitarist, recording artist, and performer, who was the founder and Chair of the Pre-College Division of the Guitar Department at the Juilliard School Goni was born in Athens, Greece, and studied with ...

titled "Evocacion," and an EP featuring his work on solo electric guitar and with Electric Kompany.

Background

Gallagher began his musical training with rock guitar, but soon became interested in jazz and classical. He went to study with

Benjamin Verdery Benjamin Verdery (born 1955) is an American classical guitarist, composer and teacher.Summerfield, Maurice J ''The Classical Guitar: Its Evolution and Its Players Since 1800'' Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK: Ashley Mark Publishing, 1991. Retrieved Nove ...

at Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and

Sharon Isbin Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

at the Juilliard School. After winning several major competitions and performing in Spain, Germany,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, Greece, Turkey, Brazil, and England, Gallagher once again became interested in the electric guitar. "Through the 90's I only owned and performed classical guitar. In 1998 I just got the sudden urge to walk into a music shop and try their Les Pauls. I hadn't touched an electric in years. I fell in love with one and bought it on the spot. All the electric guitar techniques I knew came back instantly and my classical technique opened up many more possibilities than I had ever had before." Gallagher now performs solo music on electric guitar by composers such as

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

an
Rob Haskins
With Electric Kompany, he has arranged music by Jacob ter Veldhuis, Marc Mellits, and commissioned music for the quartet. "Performing on classical guitar and electric guitar is very different,' says Gallagher, "but there are similarities in my approach. Sound and color is very important to me. With both styles, I choose sounds depending on the piece and the mood I'm trying to convey. Articulation, dynamics and rhythm are also approached in the same way. Musically, I think my head is the same. Technically, there are a lot of differences. Using a pick is the obvious one, but the electric guitar also requires more string muting to keep the sound under control. There is also the pickup selector, tone controls and the endless variety of programmable effects I can use. So, I have similar musical ideas, but I'm using a different palette to convey them."

Competition Honors

* Guitar Foundation of America (1993) * American String Teachers Association (1994) * Artists International Competition (1993) * Francisco Tárrega Guitar Competition (1997)

Discography

* ''Guitar Recital'' - Music from the Renaissance and Baroque (

) * ''Evocacion'' (Willow Shade) * ''New Interpretations'' (Willow Shade) * ''Music from the Avant-Pop'' (EP)

References

* http://guitar69.com/index.htm * Dickenson, J. Andrew
"Electric Counterpoint"
''Urban Guitar'', July 2006

External links

Official site of Kevin R. GallagherInterview with Kevin Gallagher
Urban Guitar
Video Interview with Kevin Gallagher
Classical Guitar Blog
"Interview 06.24.09: Kevin Gallagher,"
Guitar Theory in Depth
"Kevin R. Gallagher,"
Three Chords and the Truth {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Kevin R. American classical guitarists American male guitarists Juilliard School alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Wisconsin Conservatory of Music alumni Place of birth missing (living people)