David Shepherd ( b. nov.'63 ) studied classical guitar from a young age and came to the exotic sound of flamenco via contemporary compositions by Walton, Ohana, Brouwer amongst others.
Having studied flamenco technique with guitarist and author,
Marcos, in England. - David was able ( thanks to his flamenco-dancing mother, Avril ) to continue learning with the highly-respected
Jose Luis Balao at the Academia de la Guitarra in Jerez.
This was followed by many years performing with Marcos ( who's recently published "Flamenco Legend-In search of Camaron de la Isla" proved a critical success in Spain and England ) leading to the duos well recieved London debut given at The South Bank's Purcell Room with dancer
Maria Clara de A'Echevarria.
"..an enthusiastic audience were treated to an array of flamenco styles impeccably played and delivered with a passion and commitment that made Sat 14th a wonderfully entertaining and exciting night." - Nick Flynn for Guitar International Dec 1991
The duos work continued with performances at Holywell Room-Oxford, Horniman Museum-London, Stourhead Festival, London Weekend TV's British Comedy Awards Ceremony and a number of Arts Council tours. Marcos and David also released a recording - Paseo Flamenco - for which David composed the flamenco duet material.
"...The artists are disciplined recording artists with good technique and a clean pleasent sound. The Serranas has some beautiful, bell-like harmonies and "Montana Verde" has a wonderful beginning - very crisp and crystaline." - Paco Sevilla for Jaleo vol.8 no 2
David's commitment to flamenco composition and dance accompaniment has continued with a number of collaborations during the last decade.
The group
"Via Uno" ( formed with flamenco dancer,
Karen-Anne and
Tony Shepherd on cajon.) became especially well known in the midlands and performed widely at festivals etc. A musical development of this project ( with singer
Maria Tiraski and guitarist
Bob Rippin ) performed flamenco and fado music to standing ovations at Birmingham Artsfest 2005.
In 2005, David was invited by brothers
Inigo and Gaztea Ruiz to compose and play the guitar music for a special project based around the Spanish Civil War ( see blog above ). This was to result in the publication of a photographic, musical and poetic account of the conflict (
"36-39. 51 pequenas y grandes historias de la Guerra Civil desde el sentir flamenco" ISBN: 84-7359-621-8 by Nueva Imagen Publicidad) published and sold with a CD ( produced by David ) containing spoken poems, guitar music and songs performed and written by these three artists. The book and CD recieved encouragment and favorable mention by non-other than Spanish poet and flamencologist, Felix Grande.
"...no quiero dejar de decirte que la idea es buena , que habeis tenido la suerte de encontrar un guitarrista que lo hace bien y que tiene un buen sonido..." Felix Grande.An especially long-standing association with renowned flamenco dancer, choreographer and teacher,
Ana Garcia, has enabled David to develop his approach to dance accompaniment whilst occasionally working with many performers of the highest level ( La Tacha, Olga Pericet, Marco Flores, Pepa Molina, Carmela Romero, Felipe Algeciras etc ).
Ana Garcia herself performed as special guest in one of David's recent ventures,
The Street Shepherd Band. This group was founded in 2007 with eclectic violinist
Jools Street, performing for two years in and around the midlands. Together with the essential support of
Alan Dilan ( percussion ) and
Tony Shepherd ( cajon ), Jools and David explored connections between flamenco, northern Spanish ( Celtic ), classical and jazz music - with exciting results.
"I wandered over to watch ArtsFest's first showcase of the day-The Street Shepherd Band, who's intricate, bluesy flamenco fusion made for a wonderful setting, but by no means background music!" Stephanie Greenfield - for Birmingham ArtsFest 2008.
As well as investigating flamenco fusion, David has continued to perform "flamenco puro" with midlands based flamenco group,
Asin. Formed with
Ana Garcia,
Alan Dilan and with the recent addition of violinist
Sarah Boughton,
Asin remains true to traditional flamenco interpretation but open to Spain's latest developments in flamenco dance and music. In October 2009, this group will be performing with word class argentinian tango singer
Jose Luis Barreto in what promises to be a very special event.
For more information about the above projects and performers, go to;
www.myspace.com/asinsetoca
www.flamenco-birmingham.com
www.myspace.com/sarahboughtonmusic
www.musicofnomad.co.uk
www.myspace.com/thestreetshepherdband
www.myspace.com/joolsstreet
CONTACT: David Shepherd at
[email protected]
David Shepherd lives and works in Coventry where he teaches a host of very talented students in Coventry schools for the
Performing Arts Service. He also provides flamenco dance accompaniment for Ana Garcia's classes at the highly respected Elmhurst Ballet School in Birmingham.
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