Master Classes
Liza Zoe
Evangelos Assimakopoulos
Evangelos & Liza
The superb concerts of Evangelos Assimakopoulos and his wife Liza Zoe in Europe, United States and Canada, have made them one of the most highly regarded duo guitarists in the world today.
Not only have the two Greek musicians been acclaimed by many newspapers of repute, including the New York times, Daily Telegraph, Paris Matin, Chicago Sun, El Sol de Mexico and Los Angeles Times, but they also earned the esteem of the great Andrés Segovia himself, who wrote of them: “Since Fate cruelly deprived us of Presti-Lagoya, I no longer had the pleasure of listening to any similar duo. But lately, when the talented Greek guitarists Evangelos and Liza played for me, I felt complete satisfaction and enjoyment. I cordially wish Evangelos and Liza to conquer the high esteem of the public as they have conquered mine!”
They both began their studies of the guitar in 1953 at the National Conservatory of Athens under Dimitris Fampas. After receiving first prizes “with excellence” upon graduating, they shared the first two prizes in the International Competition in Naples, Italy. For four consecutive periods they were awarded scholarships to study with the Presti-Lagoya duo in France and with Andrés Segovia in Spain. Shortly after, they became professors at the National Conservatory in Athens.
Since their arrival on the international scene in 1967, Evangelos and Liza have carried out extensive tours all over the world and given hundreds of recitals at some of the most famous concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, le Théâtre de la Ville, the Lincoln Center and the Herodion. They have also performed for many radio and television stations (the BBC, Paris RTVF, Brussels, Madrid, Cologne, Berlin etc.) and taken part in major festivals in, among other places, New York, Boston, Antwerp, Rome, Amsterdam, Mexico and Athens. They usually appear as duo soloists with well known symphony orchestras such as those of Montreal, Michigan, Cincinnati and Birmingham, as well as teaching seminars and holding Master-classes at universities and academies overseas including The Juilliard School, the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, UCLA, Stony Brook University and Mannes College of Music.
Both Greek and foreign composers have written pieces especially for Evangelos and Liza; at the same time the two musicians have enriched a rather meagre guitar duo repertoire with transcriptions and arrangements for their own. They have produced several records and CDs of works for one or two guitars that are available on the EMI Classics label everywhere.
Also in their creative offer is evaluated the International Guitar Festival of Patras, one of the longest-lived institutions in the world, an institution that has been all these years a source of inspiration, encouragement and training for thousands of students of the instrument.
Finally, in their more than 60 years of teaching, both Lisa Zoe and Evangelos Assimakopoulos have earned an enthusiastic reception wherever they have performed, resulting to their wholehearted acceptance by the public as one of the “most exciting husband-and-wife virtuoso duos of today’s musicdom.”
Vladimir Gorbach
The 32nd International Guitar Festival of Patras is pleased to present to its audience Vladimir Gorbach, who today is one of the leading guitar names of his generation worldwide.
Born in Novosibirsk, the Russian artist took his first guitar lessons at a young age at the State Music School in his hometown, and then at the Glinka Conservatory and the Cologne Music Academy in Germany.
Although he has won numerous awards and distinctions in Europe, however, the 1st Prize he won at the GFA International Competition in 2011 was what really launched his reputation internationally.
His recordings by the company 'Naxos', his continuous tours and dozens of recitals in Europe, North and South America, Australia to China, his participations in Festivals as well as his appearances with symphony orchestras have resulted in Gorbach enjoying worldwide universal recognition from audiences and critics.
He came to the Patras Festival for the first time in 2017, leaving great impressions both in his recital and in the Master classes. The Russian artist delighted the demanding audience of Patras with his perfect technique and his unparalleled interpretation, giving tangible examples of high aesthetic and tone writing, elements that rightfully rank him in the pantheon of the leading guitarists of his generation.
Since 2015 Vladimir Gorbach holds the position of lecturer in the guitar department at the Sydney Academy of Music.
Lovro Peretić
Lovro Peretić (1995) is an internationally award winning classical guitarist from Zagreb (Croatia). He started studying guitar at a young age under tuition of prof. Xhevdet Sahatxhija in a music school in Zagreb. After that, he graduated with distinction at the Music academy in Zagreb in the class of prof. Darko Petrinjak spending one year in a student exchange program at L’École Supérieure Musique et Danse Hauts-de-France in Lille (France) with prof. Judicaël Perroy. Later, he specialized in music performance in Geneva (Switzerland) where he studied with Judicaël Perroy at the Haute Ecole de Musique Genève.
He is regarded as one of the leading guitarists of the younger generation, which is confirmed by results from various music competitions such as Guitar Foundation of America (USA), Eurostrings guitar competition, Changsha International Guitar Competition (China), Boris Papandopulo in Zagreb (Croatia), Zagreb Guitar Festival (Croatia), Antwerpen guitar festival (Belgium), Andres Segovia in Velbert (Germany), Anna Amalia in Weimar (Germany), Enrico Mercatali in Gorizia (Italy), Ida Presti in Samobor (Croatia), Volos Guitar Festival (Greece), Fernando Sor in Rome (Italy), Concours international de guitare d'Antony (France), Brussels International Guitar Competition (Belgium).
In 2020, he won the 3rd Eurostrings competition, which brought him an opportunity to give numerous concerts and master classes throughout Europe in 2021/2022.
In 2022, he won the International Concert Artist competition of GFA (USA). As the winner, he had an extensive concert tour, playing around 50 concerts throughout USA and Canada in the season 2023/2024. Also, he recorded his debut album for the recording label Naxos which was released in 2023.
Except as a soloist, he regularly performs in various chamber music groups among which the most significant one guitar trio Evocación, with whom they recently released their first album named Evocación. As a soloist, he collaborated with the Symphonic orchestra of Croatian radio television, Dubrovnik symphonic orchestra, Zagreb soloists etc.