James Westbrook - David ‘Jose’ Rubio (1934–2000): A Personal Insight into Britain’s Most Illustrious Musical Instrument Maker

dom10nov10:30dom11:30James Westbrook - David ‘Jose’ Rubio (1934–2000): A Personal Insight into Britain’s Most Illustrious Musical Instrument Maker10:30 - 11:30

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Lecturer: James Westbrook

Title: David ‘Jose’ Rubio (1934–2000): A Personal Insight into Britain’s Most Illustrious Musical Instrument Maker

Bio:

James Westbrook is a British-based organologist whose particular interest is in guitar construction. Currently he holds a Wolfson College, Cambridge, Research Fellowship; investigating ‘The Life and Work of David Rubio’. He is the author of two popular books: Guitars through the Ages (2002) and The Century that Shaped the Guitar (2006) as well as co-author of The Complete Illustrated book of the Acoustic Guitar (2012). In 2010 James was awarded the O’May studentship for his Doctoral research into Guitar Making in Nineteenth-Century London at the University of Cambridge.

James has given papers for The Classical Guitar Festival of Great Britain, European Guitar Teachers Association, The Galpin Society, The American Musical Instrument Society, and the San Francisco Conservatory. He has given numerous interviews for guitar magazines, newspapers, radio, and television. He is a consultant for Brompton’s Auctioneers, specialists in Fine Musical Instruments, at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London and a part-time luthier and restorer.

James is a Trustee, Committee member and Section Secretary of Springboard (Brighton & Hove Performing Arts Festival), a charitable organization for music, dance, speech and drama. With respect to this, in 2009 he was awarded for 25 years voluntary service by The British and International Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance & Speech. The same year he achieved The London Metropolitan University Recognition Award for Academic Excellence.

James is a founder member of The Consortium for Guitar research, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, a member of the European Guitar Teachers Association and the American Musical Instrument Society as well as Secretary ofThe Brighton & Hove Guitar Society.

James has loaned many of his rare historic guitars from his Guitar Museum collection, including a guitar to Colin Firth, via Ealing Studios for the filming of The Importance of Being Earnest, a rare signed photograph of Francisco Tárrega, the nineteenth century composer of the famous ‘Nokia ring tone’, as a back-drop to BBC 1’s ‘QI’ with Stephen Fry, Alan Davis, a Stauffer guitar for the Travelling Guitars exposition, Musee de la Musique, Paris, and the loan of the Tarrega/Leckie manuscripts and a Torres guitar for the Tarrega 100 exhibition, Villa Real Museum, Spain.

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(Domenica) 10:30 - 11:30