Rafael Vivanco with Lisa Zane and Blake Jiracek / “The Baroque Guitar”

Come and experience the magical sound of the Baroque guitar with some of the great Spanish and European dances and compositions of the 1600’s, performed on a replica of a Stradivari instrument.

The recital will include special guest singer Lisa Zane and percussionist Blake Jiracek.

Rafael Vivanco was born in Peru where he began his classical guitar studies at the age of 11 with maestro Alonso Acosta. During his teenage years he performed at a variety of venues and youth festivals throughout the country until he moved to Vancouver, Canadá where he earned his Bachelor degree in classical guitar performance from UBC, studying with Michael Strutt. While at UBC, he also learned to play the lute and the baroque guitar from Ray Nurse, and was coached by him and by harpsichordist Doreen Oke for performances of Baroque solo and chamber music given by the Collegium Musicum (Early Music Ensembles). The Baroque guitar he presently plays was made by Ray Nurse, and is a copy of an instrument by Antonio Stradivari (Cremona, 1679).

In 2008 Mr. Vivanco received his Master’s degree from Roosevelt University, studying guitar with Denis Azabagic in Chicago. He has also played in master classes of guitarists such as Eduardo Fernandez, Fabio Zanon, Jason Vieaux, Paul Henry and Alexander Dunn. Upon graduating, he was sponsored to perform and teach in the US by Jim Sherry, the guitar importer and publisher of Guitarra magazine, who collaborated with Andres Segovia.

In 2017, Mr. Vivanco accepted an artistic residence at the Cervantes Institute of Chicago. He has been a recurring performer in a variety of music festivals such the Chicago Latino Music Festival, the Chicago Flamenco Festival, the Milwaukee International Guitar Festival, the Chicago Latin American Guitar Festival and the Music in Film Festival, among others, and his live performances have been broadcast on public radio. He has collaborated with lyric sopranos, flamenco singers, chanteuses, and pop stars. He has also composed and recorded music for a movie that recently won best feature film at the Milan Gold Awards and the Florence Film Awards.