Price Band: B

"...charm and a marvellous sense of tone colour. The playing was beautifully modulated..."

Jacob Siskind - Ottawa Citizen (Canada)

Raymond Burley

Guitar

Raymond Burley is one of England's most experienced guitarists.

On hearing one of Mr Burley's recordings the composer and critic John Duarte wrote 'These performances of my music are the kind that every composer hopes for but rarely has the good fortune to hear'.

Raymond Burley has toured extensively throughout the UK, Europe, the USA and Canada and he has appeared many times at the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room in London; he has broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 2 (Night Ride), Radio 3 and 4 (Making Waves, Woman's Hour), and has worked with many orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonia and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr Burley has premièred a considerable number of works by composers including Stephen Dodgson, Bernard Stevens, Reginald Smith Brindle, John Duarte, Raymond Head, Edmundo Vásquez, Richard Stoker, Gilbert Biberian, Bryan Kelly, John Scott, James Patten and Elis Pehkonen.

Raymond Burley's most recent solo CD (on the ASV label) of works of Fernado Sor has received considerable critical acclaim both in the UK and abroad; his next CD will feature the music of Gordon Giltrap.

For several years Raymond Burley performed and broadcast with harpsichordist Stephen Bell; many established composers, enthusiastic about the unusual combination of guitar and harpsichord, wrote works for the duo helping to create a more substantial repertory. Mr Burley now performs regularly with Oxford-based harpsichordist Richard Leigh Harris.

Raymond Burley has also performed, recorded and broadcast as a member of both the Omega Players and the English Guitar Quartet; with the latter ensemble he toured Canada in 1986, this included performing for 10 days at Expo '86 in Vancouver. Mr Burley has also given mixed programmes of poetry and music with the late Dame Peggy Ashcroft.

Between 1988-95 Raymond Burley performed in duo with American guitarist Alice Artzt and - based in New York - he was also a member of the Alice Artzt Guitar Trio; this group has released a CD of works by Charlie Chaplin, Gershwin and Bernstein. Mr Burley is currently performing concerts with mezzo-soprano Jacqueline Fox with whom he has made a recording of the music of John Duarte and Gershwin, plus working in guitar duos with John Mills, Gilbert Biberian, American Gregg Nestor and Dublin-based John Feeley. The most recent duo partnership is with steel-string guitarist Gordon Giltrap. In addition he is a member of the New Pro Arte Guitar Trio (Raymond Burley, Cornelius Bruinsma and Arne Brattland), an ensemble that has appeared on the BBC TV programme Jim'll Fix It and recently released their fifth CD Danzaz Fantasticas featuring works by Turina, Albeniz and Granados. Raymond Burley also performs with violinist Michael Bochmann and the Bochmann String Quartet and with flautist Jennifer Stinton. In the summer of 1994, whilst working in Los Angeles, Mr Burley had the pleasure of performing Miklós Rózsa's Kaleidoscope to the composer in his Hollywood home.

Raymond Burley is in great demand as a player and teacher and has given masterclasses and directed guitar workshops, festivals and summer schools throughout the UK, Dublin, Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Washington DC, New York, Princeton, Bremen and Bonn.

Raymond Burley has many guitar arrangements to his credit and these are published by Schott, MSM, Southern Guitar Productions, AIG, Corda, Durand and Arpeggione. He has edited a large number of music albums and is currently in the process of compiling an extensive guitar tutor for Schott. Projects for 2002/3 include recording five CDs, concert performances throughout the UK, Europe and two tours of Australia and the USA. These include concerto performances, one being the première of James Patten's Guitar Concerto which will be performed and recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra.

Raymond Burley is a regular contributor to the monthly magazine Classical Guitar and is sponsored by the French guitar string manufacturer Savarez.

Concertos

Discography

'Raymond Burley'

'When First We Met' - Jacqueline Fox (Mezzo soprano) and Raymond Burley

'American Music of the Stage and Screen' - The Alice Artzt Guitar Trio

'America' - The Pro Arte Guitar Trio

'Scenes' - The Lyric Guitar Trio

'John Mills and Raymond Burley'

'Kaleidoscope' - Raymond Burley and Gregg Nestor

'Fantasie' - Raymond Burley

'Serenade' - Raymond Burley and John Feeley

'The Segovia Legacy' - Raymond Burley

'Danzas Fantasticas' - The New Pro Arte Guitar Trio

Press reviews

Jacob Siskind - Ottawa Citizen (Canada)

'Happily the number of guitarists who not only have technical mastery but can also present programmes with creative originality is increasing and Raymond Burley is certainly in this category. Mr Burley has learnt well and although Guernsey guitarists had the opportunity to observe his technique closely, it was not possible to discern precisely how he managed to draw the most exquisite sounds from the instrument.'

Geoffrey George - Classical Guitar Magazine

'One is free to appreciate Raymond Burley's genuine flair for the 20th century idiom; he was born to play this music. He's totally at home with it, from the early Pujol 'Guajira' (with the pizzicato stridente rendered correctly for a change) to Duarte's crowd-pleasing 'Birds' and six fresh, unhackneyed 'Preludes' by Gilbert Biberian.'

George Warren - Soundboard Magazine (USA)

'I'm always bowled over by Raymond Burley's tone quality, which shone through his entire recital. His performance of Weiss' 'Tombeau sur la mort de M. Comte d'Logy' was superb.'

Jenny Campbell - Classical Guitar Magazine

' "Guitartist" was the word on the back of the programme for Raymond Burley's recital at St James' Arts Centre; misprint it may have been, but it was an inspired one. The word should be kept in the language to describe musicians like Mr Burley who have brought the technique of playing a difficult instrument to a very high degree of artistry.'

Christine le Poidevin - Guernsey Herald (Channel Islands)

'Raymond Burley captures the character of the music, as he manages everything else, with an undemonstrative but totally satisfactory assurance; you feel you are in safe hands, that he is never going to let you down by playing something out of period. I have a feeling that this kind of ability is underrated in our concert halls. Mr Burley's musicianship is of a very high order and it makes the recording a continual joy to listen to.'

Colin Cooper - Classical Guitar Magazine

'An imaginative and entertaining programme beautifully and thoughtfully performed - what more needs to be said? A rare treat for Bonn audiences.'

Jurgen Bieler - Bonner Kultur (Germany)

'Raymond Burley was a great addition to the Distinguished Artists concert series. It was a wonderful evening and was enjoyed by all. Very competent playing and great musicality.'

Scott Christiansen - Sedona Red Rock News (USA)

'Raymond Burley provided a program that was filled with mastery and was played with the skill a great performer takes to bring the true essence of the pieces to the audience. Mr Burley's ability to garner a wide variety of tonal colour from the guitar was truly impressive.'

Pierre Gyllsdorf - Naples Daily News (USA)

'If one had to select a single Sor recording to augment a collection, this disc would make an excellent candidate. Burley's playing is tasteful, refined and he is in full command of his material. I can't recall having heard the great Opus 7 Fantasie played better.'

Peter Danner - Soundboard Magazine (USA)