One of the great names of the classical guitar, Craig Ogden brings an exciting programme of solo classics and a few surprises – straight after his two chart-topping summers with Classic FM albums The Guitarist and Summertime.

For Equator’s first classical event we are delighted to present Australian-born guitarist Craig Ogden, one of the most exciting artists of his generation.
Among the UK’s most recorded guitarists, his recordings for Virgin/EMI, Chandos, Nimbus, Hyperion, Sony and Classic FM have received wide acclaim. Ogden’s Classic FM albums The Guitarist and Summertime both shot straight to no.1 in the UK classical chart in summer 2010 and 2011 respectively. Craig Ogden has performed concertos with all of the main UK orchestras plus many abroad in countries including Latvia, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and Australia. In season 2011/12 he returns to the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra and will be playing with the WDR Rundfunk Orchestra in Köln the following season.

Craig Ogden regularly appears as soloist and chamber musician at the major London venues and collaborates regularly with many of the UK’s top artists and ensembles. In 2008 Craig Ogden made his presenting debut on BBC Radio 3 in ‘The Segovia Legacy’ co-presented by Louis de Bernières and in 2011 Ogden also presented a series of interviews with artists including John Williams for ABC Classic FM (Australia).

He studied guitar from the age of seven and percussion from the age of thirteen. In 2004 he became the youngest instrumentalist to have received a Fellowship Award from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He is currently Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College and Visiting Lecturer at London’s Royal College of Music.

In this concert there will be a special guest appearance by the Ashford Guitar Ensemble, following on from Craig’s afternoon master class at Ashford School with students drawn from several local schools.