About Kazu Suwa:
Kazu is a renowned classical guitarist who revives exciting classical guitar sonority and lyricism with original twists. His passion is engaging his audience through emotional experiences created by his interpretations without compromising the music's authenticity. Kazu focuses on carefully curated programs uninfluenced by trends so that each performance reflects the unique and beautiful quality of the guitar.
Kazu has been described by one of the world's most respected music critics, Mr Jiro Hamada, as "one of those selected guitarists who hold the key to the world of poetic sentiment: my ideal image of the guitar, and artists of this instrument".
His debut CD album ‘Guitar Recital’ was highly acclaimed internationally by critics and cultural institutions in the UK, Spain, USA, Italy, France, Australia, Canada, and Japan. The album also received “Semi-Highest Honour” in the Japanese classical music magazine “Record Geijutsu (Art of Records)” in 2015. This album consists of 22 pieces of Spanish and South American music.
Kazu's mastery of the guitar's breadth and depth is further demonstrated by his unique guitar transcprtions and recordings of piano works such as those by Spanish/Catalan composer Federico Mompou. In fact, the Mompou Foundation in Barcelona describes Kazu as “a musician in the broadest sense of the word. He possesses notable skill in transcription, adding this facet to his qualities as a player. (…)We should emphasise that Mr Kazu Suwa has produced very faithful arrangements. His precision in interpretation and his quality in sonority indicates to us that the guitar is a perfect instrument to extract the musical essence of each piece”. Mompou is one of the composers highly respected and revered by Kazu and he has included one of his original guitar transcriptions of Mompou’s piano pieces on his debut album.
Kazu is also a very passionate educator as he genuinely enjoys sharing all his accumulated knowledge and passion with others.
He has given concerts in the UK, Spain and Japan at various locations including concert halls, universities and churches. Apart from solo performances, Kazu has performed with voice, harpsichord, cello, piano, baroque recorder, flute, chamber orchestra and choir.
Kazu graduated from the prestigious Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid in Spain. In Japan, Kazu studied classical guitar with the renowned classical guitarists Mikio Hoshido and Yoshinobu Hara, and graduated from the Nihon University College of Art in Tokyo.