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The American guitarist, Alice Josephine Artzt, showed exceptional talent from an early age. After studying the piano and flute, she turned to the classical guitar at the age of 13. She received her BA from Columbia University in 1966. She studied guitar with Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya in France, and with Julian Bream in England. She studied composition with Darius Milhaud, and has done graduate work in composition and musicology at Columbia University.
Alice Artzt made her concert debut in 1969 at the Wigmore Hall in London. Since then, she has played solo concerts in Europe (England, Wales, Norway, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy), Africa, Central America (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama), Asia (Near East, Philippines, South Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong), the Caribbean, Mexico, the USA, Canada, and South America (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil), Australia and New-Zealand. She made several tours under the auspices of the United Stated Information Service. She played duo concerts with harpsichordist Igor Kipnis. Critics have unanimously praised her performances, and she was honoured with Various Critics Choice awards. Guitar International magazine has called "America's best player".
Her solo programmes include a wide range of styles from Renaissance and Baroque lute music, which she studies from the original tablatures to contemporary compositions. She has also appeared as soloist with orchestras in Europe, the Near East, and the USA, including the Wiener Symphoniker, and has had works dedicated to her be several well-known composers, including John William Duarte of England, Santórsola of Uruguay, and Gillardino of Italy.
Alice Artzt has made 14 albums, among them the LP's "Alice Artzt Classic Guitar"; "Alice Artzt Plays Original Works"; "Bach and His Friends"; "Guitar Music by Fernando Sor"; "Guitar Music by Francisco Tarrega"; "20th Century Guitar Music"; "English Guitar Music"; "The Music of Manuel Ponce"; "Virtuoso Romantic Guitar"; "Musical Tributes"; "Variations. Passacaglias and Chaconnes". She and has written two books: The Art of Practicing (1978) and Rhythmic Mastery (1997), and contributed articles and reviews in numerous magazines.
Alice Artzt is known as an authority on the films of Charlie Chaplin, about whom she has written many articles. She has appeared on television and radio throughout the world. In the past several years, she has performed widely in Europe, North and South America, and Africa as a duo/trio with several other well-known guitarists (among them British guitarist Raymond Burley, Irish guitarist John Feeley, American guitarist Gregg Nestor, Swiss guitarists Michel Rutscho and Daniel Zimmermann, and New York-based trio members Paulo Martelli and Woodrow Park.
Alice Artzt taught guitar at the Mannes College of Music in New York City from 1966 to 1969, and at Trenton State University in New Jersey from 1977 to 1980. She was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Guitar Foundation of America from 1986 to 1991. |
