Stefan Hladek studied classical guitar at the Academy of Music in Darmstadt with Olaf Van Gonnissen, and with Timothy Walker at London’s Royal Academy of Music where he also participated in masterclasses held by Julian Bream and John Williams. Since 1989, he has been active as a soloist and chamber musician. Early in his career, he won several prizes at international competitions, and since then has been invited to give concerts and serve on juries at guitar festivals in Germany and across Europe. His range of artistic activities is broad and encompasses performances and recordings (for both CD and radio) of original compositions and arrangements from the Renaissance to the present day. He has given premiers at the New Music Festival in Darmstadt and is involved in historical performance practice on the Baroque guitar, quint bass guitar, and the romantic guitar.Since 2003, Hladek has collaborated with actor Horst Schäfer (recitations) in a literary-musical duo. Other chamber music activity involves the accompanying of lieder and various types of musical ensembles. Since 2004, he has also been a member of the Barrios Guitar Quartet. Together, they concertize throughout Europe, and their most recent CD, El Calor del Día, was featured as a CD recommendation on HR2 Kulturradio in January, 2012. Following this, there have been invitations to give concerts at the Rheingau Music Festival, The Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, and the Schloss Concerts in Weiburg. As a pedagogue, Stefan Hladek maintains a guitar studio (D8) in Darmstadt, and his masterclasses are sought after internationally. Since April 2006 he has headed his own guitar class at the University of Music in Mainz.
Further information: www.stefanhladek.de
