Turlogh O’Carolan (1670–1738)
Arr. Bruno Szordikowski
From ‘Connemara Suite’
Planxty Irwin
Black is the Colour
Sheebeg and Sheemore

J.S. Bach (1685–1750)
Arr. Jeremy Sparks
Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring

Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805)
Arr. Jeremy Sparks
Introduction and Fandango

The London Guitar Orchestra (LGO) is a group of classical guitarists that meets once a week in Central London to play some great ensemble music in a friendly and fun atmosphere under conductor Tom Kerstens. What started as a way to strengthen students’ skills and foster their ability to perform in public quickly developed into a long-running class, based for many years at Mary Ward Centre but now running independently. The group has added many new players of different ages throughout the years. The music spans many eras and styles – from Baroque to Romantic to new music, from Vivaldi to Piazzolla to Brouwer.

Tom Kerstens is a major figure in the guitar world. He is highly regarded as a versatile performer on modern and period instruments and is an influential champion of the guitar in his roles as player, recording artist and artistic director. He was chosen in Classic FM’s list of the ‘100 best classical artists’ and ‘Five best guitarists world-wide’ whilst hailed as a ‘refreshing musical explorer’. He has commissioned 118 new works for IGF in the past 26 years.

Hildegard von Bingen (c.1098–1179)
O gloriosissimi lux vivens angeli (O living light, O angels glorious) *

Maria Luisa Anido (1907-1996)
De Mi Tierra

Hildegard von Bingen
Sed diabolus (But envious, the devil mocks) *

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Oiseaux tristes *

Hildegard von Bingen
O rubor sanguinis (O bloody red) *

Béla Bartók (1881–1945)
The Night’s Music *

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Berceuse *

* Arrangement by Katalin Koltai

Katalin Koltai is an internationally acclaimed guitarist, soloist, and chamber musician, performing regularly with major orchestras and a constant champion of contemporary music. She records for North/South Recordings, Naxos, Hungaroton and Genuin.
Katalin gained degrees from the Budapest Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Royal Conservatory of Bruxelles, and the Conservatorium Maastricht, taught by József Eötvös, Antigoni Goni, Raphaella Smits, Carlo Marchione, and José María Gallardo Del Rey. She is a PhD researcher at the International Guitar Research Centre, University of Surrey. Since the autumn of 2018, she focuses on guitar transcription and new music for guitar supervised by Steve Goss and Tom Armstrong. She invented a new magnet capo system and a new guitar prototype. As a researcher, she published in Soundboard Scholar, Lute Society of America Quarterly, Bloomsbury Academic and gave talks at GFA Convention, 21st Century Guitar Conference Portugal, Dublin Guitar Symposium. Currently a FASS Scholarship Holder, Katalin is a former fellow of the Dutch Cultural Ministry and winner of the Hungarian Junior Prima Prize.