José Tomás Pérez Sellés (26 August 1934, in

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

– 7 August 2001) was a Spanish

classical guitarist This is a list of classical guitarists. Baroque (17th and 18th centuries) 19th century 20th century Contemporary See also * List of flamenco guitarists References {{DEFAULTSORT:Classical guitarists Cl ...

and teacher. Considered a major influence on the evolution of

classical guitar technique In classical guitar, the right hand is developed in such a way that it can sustain two, three, and four voice Harmony, harmonies while also paying special attention to Musical tone, tone production. The index (i), middle (m), and ring (a) finger ...

in the second half of the 20th century, he trained many guitarists from all over the world.Iborra, Mario Alcaraz and Soto, Roberto Díaz
''La guitarra: Historia, organología y repertorio''
Editorial Club Universitario, 2009, p. 170. (in Spanish)

Biography

José Tomás began his musical studies with

Óscar Esplá Óscar Esplá y Triay (5 August 1886 – 6 January 1976) was a Spanish composer. The Conservatorio Superior de Música (music school, conservatory) of the city of Alicante is dedicated to him. The ''Premio internacional de composición Óscar ...

. He would later transcribe Esplá's piano suite, ''Levante'', for the guitar as well as re-discover and transcribe Esplá's previously unknown work, ''Tempo di Sonata''. The sonata, originally composed for the harp, was given its first performance in 1978 by Tomás himself. Tomás was initially a self-taught guitarist, but then continued his studies with

Regino Sainz de la Maza Regino Sainz de la Maza y Ruiz (7 September 1896 – 26 November 1981) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer. Biography Sainz de la Maza was born in Burgos. At ten, he got his first guitar and started his musical studies with Santiago La ...

Emilio Pujol Emilio Pujol Vilarrubí (or ''Emili''; 7 April 1886 – 15 November 1980) was a Spanish composer, guitarist and a leading teacher of the classical guitar. Biography Emili Pujol was born in the little village of Granadella just outside Lleida, S ...

, and Alirio Diaz. On Diaz's recommendation, he went to study with

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987), was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia ...

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

. After Siena he continued his training with Segovia in 1958 and 1959 at '' Música en Compostela'', and served as Segovia's assistant there. In 1961 he won first prize at the ''Concurso Internacional de Guitarra'' in

Ourense Ourense (; ) is a city and the capital of the province of province of Ourense, Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path o ...

founded by Segovia, after which he primarily dedicated himself to teaching in his native city, where he was Professor of Guitar at the ''Conservatorio Superior de Música "Óscar Esplá"'', a post which he held for two decades. From 1964 until the mid-1970s, he also took over from Segovia as director of ''Música en Compostela''. As a concert performer, Tomás was known for his enviable sound and interpretative skill. He was also known for his transcriptions, especially those of scores from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

eras. This in turn led him to adopt an

eight string guitar An eight-string guitar is a guitar with eight strings, or one more than the Russian guitar's seven. Eight-string guitars are less common than six- and seven-string guitars, but they are used by a few classical, jazz, and metal guitarists. The ...

, developed for him by

José Ramírez III José Ramírez III (1922–1995) was a Spanish luthier and founder of Ramírez Guitars. He was responsible for major changes both to the company and to the classical guitars it produces. Ramírez was raised in a guitar making family, and served h ...

. The two extra strings allowed him to play music originally composed for the

vihuela The vihuela () is a 15th-century fretted plucked Spanish string instrument, shaped like a guitar (figure-of-eight form offering strength and portability) but tuned like a lute. It was used in 15th- and 16th-century Spain as the equivalent of t ...

and

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), 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 "lu ...

on a modern guitar without sacrificing any notes. However, his primary contribution was to guitar pedagogy. "Pragmatic and erudite, but at the same time humble", he received a constant stream of guitarists who visited his home in Alicante seeking his advice. Amongst the classical guitarists who studied with Tomás are David Russell, Raphaella Smits,

Thomas Müller-Pering Thomas Müller-Pering (born 1958 in Cologne) is a classical guitarist from Germany. He studied under Prof. Tadashi Sasaki at the Hochschule für Musik Köln ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, c ...

, Ahmet Kanneci, Cornel Imry, Edson Lopes, Yoshimi Otani, Ignacio Rodes,

Rafael Serrallet Rafael Serrallet (born in Valencia, Spain on July 14, 1971) is a Spanish classical guitarist. Career Rafael Serrallet was born in Valencia and started playing the guitar at the age of 12. Rafael studied with Andres Segovia’s pupil and assis ...

Carles Trepat Carles Trepat (born 1960) is a Spanish Classical Guitar, classical guitarist. He has won several international prizes, including the "Premio Tárrega" in the "Certamen Internacional Francisco Tárrega de Benicàssim". In July 2014, he was awarded ...

Mario Caserta Mario (; ) is a character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. ...

Edoardo Catemario Edoardo Catemario (born 25 September 1965) is an Italian classical guitarist. Biography Edoardo Catemario was born in Naples. He studied guitar with Salvatore Canino, Antimo Pedata, José Tomás, Stefano Aruta and Maria Luisa Anido, piano and ...

, Jonathan Baker, Klaus Helminen, Jim Frazee, Patrick Gaudi, Bauke Oosterhuit, Luis Diego Martin, Alex de Valera, Masahiro Umemoto,

Ichiro Suzuki , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played for 28 seasons. He played the first nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the next 12 years w ...

, Spencer Burleson, Eric Madriguera, Benjamin Bolt, Ross Benavides, Philip Rosheger, Tom Johnson, Bryan Townsend, Marco Antonio Anguiano, Ryuhei Kobayashi, Baltazar Benitez and Jesús Castro-Balbi. The ''Conservatorio Profesional de Música "Guitarrista José Tomás"'' in Alicante is named in his honour,Conservatori Professional de Música d'Alacant "Guitarrista José Tomás"
Biography of José Tomás
(in Spanish, accessed 26 April 2010) as is an international classical guitar competition, the ''Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Clásica "José Tomás - Villa de Petrer"''.PIMA Asociación de Guitarra Clásica
XII Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Clásica "José Tomás - Villa de Petrer"
Retrieved 11 November 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomas, Jose Spanish classical guitarists Spanish male guitarists 1934 births 2001 deaths Musicians from Alicante 20th-century Spanish classical musicians 20th-century Spanish musicians 20th-century Spanish guitarists 20th-century Spanish male musicians