Five centuries of guitar music come together in Brendan Evans’ return to Wilmington, in a program that moves from the clarity and intricate counterpoint of the Renaissance to the color, rhythm, and harmonic language of the twentieth century.

That breadth is central to Evans’s playing. His recent debut recording, Tiento, ranges from music originally written for Renaissance lute through Spanish and Latin American repertoire to the striking modern language of Maurice Ohana and Dušan Bogdanović. The result is a program built on contrast: intimate music alongside brilliant dance rhythms, old forms heard through a modern instrument, and familiar Spanish sounds set beside repertoire well outside the usual concert-guitar canon.

Evans brings an unusually direct connection to this music. During his conservatory training he spent a year in Granada and Córdoba studying flamenco guitar, an experience that continues to inform his approach to Spanish repertoire. His playing on Tiento was praised by Vivascene for its “sparkling and flawless” technique and for the range of “tone, mood and texture” he draws from the instrument.

Evans last appeared with Wilmington Classical Guitar in 2018. He returns November 21 with a program that shows just how much territory one guitar can cover.

Works to be performed by TBD.

MASTERCLASS
11/21/26: Brendan Evans will be teaching a masterclass in the afternoon, November 21 at 1:00 pm in the West Room of Covenant Community Center. The masterclass is free to observe and open to the public, but registration is required. Register as an auditor to sit in and hear what Mr. Evans has to teach our guest performers, or register as a performer for your chance to perform for Brendan and have him critique your performance (a small tuition fee applies). Register as either an auditor or performer in our Online Store.

About the Artist

Brendan Evans left his hometown of Rockport, Massachusetts at the age of 13, and has been playing and studying guitar with increasing intensity since then. Four years at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he studied with Bob Squires and Apostolos Paraskevas, led to to four years at the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Steve Aron, which led to two years at the San Francisco Conservatory, where he studied with David Tanenbaum.

In the middle of his Oberlin tenure Brendan spent a very formative year studying flamenco guitar in the cities of Granada (where he studied at Carmen de las Ceuvas) and Cordoba, in the Andalusian region of Spain. He sometimes thinks about the advice he got from his last teacher in Spain, which was to “Stay in Spain and play flamenco, do not return to the states and study classical guitar.” Brendan had come to realize that to play flamenco is to live it completely, and was not willing to give up his life in the states, or put aside his growing passion for the classical guitar – he does not regret returning, but there is a lingering sense of melancholy. Perhaps one day he’ll return to Spain.

After graduating in 2008 from the SF Conservatory with a Master’s degree, Brendan went on to win prizes in 8 consecutive competitions in the US and Canada, including 1st prizes in the Louisville and Rosario festivals. Brendan plays on a guitar made by David Pace.