Biography of Andrea Dieci, classical guitarist

Andrea Dieci graduated “cum laude” with special distinction at the “Verdi” Conservatoire of Milan. He studied with Oscar Ghiglia at the Summer Classes held at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena (always with Diploma of Merit distinction) and at the Musikakademie in Basle, Switzerland, where he earned the “Solistendiplom”. He has also attended masterclasses with Julian Bream.

He has won First Prize in the International Competition of Gargnano, the International Competition of Lagonegro (dedicated to 20th century guitar music) and the “De Bonis” International Competition of Cosenza. Moreover, he was awarded a Special Prize at the ARD-Musikwettbewerb held in Munich in 1989. Andrea Dieci has been described as “an impressive guitarist” by the Times Herald and “a true star of the classical guitar” by Corriere della Sera. He has performed extensively for prestigious music societies all over Europe, in the USA, Central and South America, Africa and Asia. He has appeared at such famous events as the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds, the Festival of the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) and the Singapore International Festival, and at music festivals in Milan, Madrid, London, Athens, Istanbul, Los Angeles, Tokyo, among others. He has been invited to perform Henze’s Royal Winter Music at the Royal Conservatory Concert Hall in Brussels within a Tribute Festival for the 85 years of Julian Bream. Mr Dieci’s performances have been broadcast by major radio and TV companies including Italian Radio-Television (RAI), Vatican Radio, Radio Nacional Española, Swiss-Italian Radio-Television, Euroradio and the BBC.

He has recorded numerous CDs under MAP, Nuova Era, DotGuitar and Brilliant Classics labels, including albums dedicated to the music of Manuel Ponce, Nicola Jappelli, Fernando Sor, Astor Piazzolla and Mauro Giuliani. Particularly relevant are his recordings of the complete works for solo guitar by Toru Takemitsu (MAP, 2004 – awarded the “Golden Guitar” 2005 for the best CD of the year at the International Guitar Conference of Alessandria), Heitor Villa-Lobos (MAP, 2009) and Hans Werner Henze (Brilliant Classics, 2016 - awarded the “Golden Guitar” 2017 for the best CD of the year at the International Guitar Conference of Alessandria). He is the only guitarist to have recorded the complete solo works by these three important composers. His completely new recording of Takemitsu’s music was released by Brilliant Classics in 2018. His latest releases are a solo album dedicated to the music of Cyril Scott, Lennox Berkeley, Benjamin Britten e William Walton (Brilliant Classics, 2021), and a triple CD with the complete works for violin and guitar by Ferdinand Rebay in duo with the violinist Piercarlo Sacco (Brilliant Classics 2023).

In addition to being in demand as a performer, Dieci is also a renowned teacher. He has presented masterclasses at important music institutions throughout Europe and in Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, Japan and the USA, including the Royal Academy of Music of London, the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels, the Nihon Guitar Conservatory in Japan, the University of Santa Maria in Brazil and several Universities in the USA. He is currently based at the Vecchi-Tonelli Conservatoire in Modena, also teaching yearly masterclasses at the Giulio Regondi Guitar Academy in Milan.