Craig Ogden, Classical Guitarist, Cawsand Bay Guitarfest

About us

"A worthy successor to Julian Bream" BBC Music Magazine

Australian born guitarist Craig Ogden is one of the most exciting artists of his generation. He studied guitar from the age of seven and percussion from the age of thirteen. In 2004, he became the youngest instrumentalist to receive a Fellowship Award from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

One of the UK's most recorded guitarists, his recordings for Virgin/EMI, Chandos, Nimbus, Hyperion, Sony and Classic FM have received wide acclaim.

Craig Ogden has performed concertos with many of the world's leading orchestras. In recent seasons he has performed with the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Ulster Orchestra, Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony, WDR Rundfunk Orchestra (Cologne) and the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra (Denmark). In December 2015, Craig was asked at short notice to step in for Miloš Karadaglić to perform a series of concerts with the Royal Northern Sinfonia at major UK concert halls and again in winter 2016 with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and the English Chamber Orchestra, both tours receiving critical acclaim. This season Craig performs concertos with orchestras including the BBC Concert Orchestra, Hallé, London Philharmonic, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Spanish Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra (Spain). Craig enjoys performing new works for guitar and gave the world premiere of a concerto written for him by Andy Scott with the Northern Chamber Orchestra in Manchester in November 2017. He gave the Australian premiere in Perth in September 2018.

Craig Ogden regularly appears as soloist and chamber musician at major venues and collaborates with many of the UK's top artists and ensembles. Craig has been invited by John Williams to perform with him at venues including London's Globe Theatre, where he returned for a music and poetry performance with actress Meera Syal. Craig performed as part of the Michael Tippett concert series at Wigmore Hall and returned there with the Nash Ensemble. In July 2017, Craig performed chamber music concerts at the Australian Chamber Music Festival at the invitation of Piers Lane. Craig has presented programmes for BBC Radio 3, BBC Northern Ireland and ABC Classic FM (Australia).

Craig Ogden is Director of Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music, Adjunct Fellow of the University of Western Australia, Associate Artist and Curator of Craig Ogden's Big Guitar Weekend at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Director of the Dean & Chadlington Summer Music Festival and Visiting Musician at Oriel College, University of Oxford.

The Cawsand Bay Guitarfest is thrilled to have Craig perform a solo concert during the weekend. Craig will present a delightful varied programme from his current repertoire including Dowland, Bach, Coste, Legnani, Albeniz, Barrios & Ryan.
www.craigogden.com