Music in the University
Date: Wednesday 26 April 2023
Time: 19:30 - 20:30
Venue: University Memorial Chapel
Category: Concerts and music, Social events, Academic events, Student events, Open days and visits
Speaker: Eduardo Martín - Guitar and Ahmed Dickinson - Guitar

Two of Cuba’s greatest exports of the Cuban guitar tradition unite to present ‘The Bridge’

Eduardo Martín - Guitar

Ahmed Dickinson - Guitar

Eduardo Martín, the Grammy nominated and multiple life-time achievement award-winning Cuban guitarist and composer, joins forces with fellow award-winning, London based Cuban musician, Ahmed Dickinson - a guitarist described as a ‘true pioneer’ by Classic FM - to present ‘The Bridge’. Martín and Dickinson perform the music of their long-awaited album: a carefully curated compilation of Eduardo’s most alluring works for two guitars, where rock merges with son montunos; old Yoruba chants, feel-good rumbas and funk- boleros, with cinematic pieces sitting alongside Cuban tumbaos with slap bass. Perfect sound bites exploring the many facets of the guitar tradition from across the Americas. By incorporating the influences of jazz, flamenco, pop, Afro and traditional Cuban melodic and rhythmic intricacies, the music bridges the gap between generations and continents, past and present, uniting teacher and student. 

Having first met as student and teacher at the Superior Institute of Art in Havana, the venerable musician and composer Martín instantly recognised in Dickinson a young man who knew the musical path he wanted to travel. Both artists are hugely in demand as solo performers, so to see them perform together in this project is one not to be missed. This is a rare opportunity to catch guitar master, Eduardo Martí​​​​​​​n on these shores and University of Glasgow is delighted to offer this opportunity for FREE to audiences.

About the artists

Eduardo Martí​​​​​​​n is an internationally recognized guitarist and composer. His compositions have become a staple of the classical guitar repertoire over the last 30 years. The discography of his music contains more than 100 registered recordings and a catalogue of over 100 works. Martín’s style has an expansive sense of freedom that taps into pre Columbus traditions, jazz, flamenco, pop, Afro and traditional Cuban. The guitar is his favored instrument to mirror the melodic and rhythmic intricacies of the Americas’ cultural diversity. He is one of the most sought-after composers of the contemporary guitar, his works have been performed and recorded by many renown artists throughout the world. His works have been published in Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Canada & USA, and have also been an integral part of the repertoire in the academic guitar programs in many countries. He is the first Latin American composer to win the Radio France International Guitar Competition. In 2003 his works “La Trampa” and “Hasta Alicia Baila were nominated to Best Classical Album at the Grammy Awards and in the same year he was chosen by the NEW YORK “American Composer`s Orchestra” to be the guest composer at Sounds of the Americas Festival. Eduardo is a professor at the Higher Institute of Art of Cuba and an Executive Director of the UNEAC, the National Union of Artists and Writers of
Cuba.

A sophisticated virtuoso, the Havana-born Ahmed Dickinson Cardenas has performed at prestigious venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Sage Gateshead, Union Chapel, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, LSO St Luke’s and St James’s Piccadilly. He has given live performances on BBC Radio 3 and BBC London. He has also featured at prominent festivals including London Classical Guitar Festival, Bath International Guitar Festival, Sage Guitar Festival, Kings Place Music Festival, Oxford Lieder Festival, Ards Guitar Festival (Northern Ireland), Dublin Guitar Week, Hispano-American Guitar Festival (Mexico), Identidades International Guitar Festival (Cuba) and Havana International Guitar Festival. 

Passionate in his collaboration with other artists, Ahmed has released seven albums. He has also worked with Chineke!, acclaimed soprano Laura Mitchell, flamenco Jazz guitarist Eduardo Niebla, Cuban percussion-
ist Hammadi Rencurrell, violinists Emma Blanco, the Santiago Quartet, and led the Cuban Guitar Orchestra Sonantas Habaneras in Havana for two years.

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No booking required, just turn up.

Doors open at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start, please be prompt.

This concert takes place in the University Memorial Chapel, GET DIRECTIONS HERE. The chapel is fully accessible and wheelchair access will be open through the Quadrangles on the flat if you park along the South Front of the Main Building. Parking at University of Glasgow in our main Hillhead carpark (surrounding the Main Building off University Avenue) is free after 5.30pm.

This concert is FREE thanks to the generosity of the Ferguson Bequest, but we are asking for 'pay what you can' donations to our Chapel Choir tour, with a recommended donation £5. You can donate at the event in cash, by scanning our QR code, or prior to coming through this link.

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