Norbert Kraft (born 21 August 1950) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

, music teacher, producer and arranger.

Life

Born in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, Kraft's family emigrated to Canada in 1954. He studied at the

Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edward ...

at Toronto with Carl van Feggelen and later with John Mills and

Aaron Shearer Aaron Shearer (6 September 1919 – 21 April 2008) was an American classical guitarist known primarily as a Pedagogy, pedagogue. History He was born in Anatone, Washington to Nettie Pearl Moody and Floyd David Shearer, and was a guitar pupil of Sop ...

. An international performer, Kraft has also recorded and (together with his wife Bonnie Silver, who is also a pianist and harpsichordist) produced many albums on the

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 ...

label. In 1994, he launched the label's Guitar Collection as producer and artistic director. Kraft specializes in solo guitar pieces from the 17th to 20th centuries as well as concerto repertoire. He has published many arrangements and transcriptions of baroque and later solo and chamber music, including works for guitar and harpsichord. He has compiled and edited a series of graded technical exercises and repertoire for the guitar. These were published in 1978 as "Classical Guitar Editions" and were adopted as official curriculum by the

Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

. He is also a composer for classical guitar. He has served on the faculties of

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Awards

*Grand Prize in the 1975 Canadian CBC Radio Competition *1985 Andrés Segovia International Guitar Competition (the first North American to do so) *Gramophone Magazine "Critic's Choice for 1989" *Classic CD Magazine "Favourite CD of the Year"

References

External links

Article at the Canadian EncyclopediaSome photos of LP covers
(Oviatt Library Digital Collections) ;Naxos Recordings
Naxos Recording Sessions
- Videos
The Bach recordings (2011)
- Norbert Kraft recording

Ricardo Gallén Ricardo Jesús Gallén García (12 March 1972), is a Spanish classical guitarist who has been active since the mid-1990s. He is currently a professor of guitar at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar, Germany. Career Gallén was born ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraft, Norbert 1950 births Canadian classical guitarists Canadian male guitarists Living people Manhattan School of Music faculty The Royal Conservatory of Music faculty

Life

Awards

See also

References

External links