I, Guitarist

I, GUITARIST

Hiroyuki Shimizu, 70

He Enjoys Making Comforting Music

TEXT BY IVAN LIM
Nov 28 2023

I love playing the guitar because I enjoy making comforting music and entertaining my listeners.

Hiroyuki Shimizu · Mazurka Choro y H. Villa-Lobos

I live in Chiba, Japan. I have been a guitarist for 56 years now. I started learning to play classical guitar on a steel-string guitar – which just happened to be in my home – when I was 14.

A year or so later, I bought an inexpensive nylon-string guitar. I was basically self-taught in my early years as a classical guitarist. I did have a teacher when I was 22 – but only for a year and a half.

When I was 55 years old, I picked up the guitar again after not playing for 15 years before that, and it was then that I decided to take lessons with a teacher. My lessons were intermittent, and during the coronavirus pandemic, I stopped taking lessons for three years.

I did eventually resume lessons in April this year, but only once a month. Playing the classical guitar is very much a hobby that I enjoy – I practise the guitar five days a week, for 30 minutes to 90 minutes each time.

I currently own a Vladimir Druzhinin guitar – a 2022, 650mm scale guitar with a spruce top and African rosewood back and sides. Do I have a favourite piece for the guitar? No! There are just too many good ones that I enjoy.

My favourite guitarists are Marcin Dylla and Irina Kulikova, though there are others whom I like, too.

Marcin Dylla. Image: Facebook

Dylla is hailed by Washington Post as “among the most gifted guitarists on the planet”. The Polish guitarist made his Concertgebouw recital debut in November 2016 during a busy 2016/2017 season where he was also the appointed faculty in residence at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for the Fall 2016 semester.

Irina Kulikova. Image: Facebook

Widely acclaimed for the rare beauty of her tone and her enchanting presence on stage, Irina Kulikova has established herself as one of today’s leading guitarists. She received over 30 awards for her artistry, and she tours at leading festivals in Europe, North America and Asia and in concert halls such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, the Palau de la Musica in Valencia, the Musashino Hall in Tokyo and the Oriental Arts Center in Shanghai.

My favourite composers are Fernando Sor and Francisco Tárrega, among many others.

Fernando Sor, Feb 14 1778 – Jul 10 1839

The Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the early Romantic era was best known for writing solo classical guitar music, he also composed an opera (at the age of 19), three symphonies, guitar duos, piano music, songs, a Mass, and at least two successful ballets: Cinderella, which received over one hundred performances, and Hercule et Omphale.

Francisco Tárrega, Nov 21 1852 – Dec 15 1909

Tárrega was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the late Romantic period, known for such pieces as Capricho Árabe and Recuerdos de la Alhambra. He composed music in the romantic style of 19th-century European masters. A virtuoso on his instrument, he was known as the "Sarasate of the guitar," although Tárrega preferred small intimate performances over the concert stage.