ben@benboltguitar.com
Armed with a plywood classical guitar his brother had given him, a Spanish/English dictionary stowed away in his back pocket, and a dream; Ben Bolt set sail for Spain when he was seventeen. His goal was to study with the "Father of Classical Guitar", Andrés Segovia. The year was 1971. It would take this boy nearly three years to turn his vision into reality. First, he would have to work hard and prove himself with his first teacher in Spain, Jose Luis Rodrigo. On his eighteenth birthday while registering for the draft at the United States Embassy in Madrid, his destiny magically appeared. Sitting just two meters away was maestro Andres Segovia. He was waiting to sign his visa papers to enter America for his celebrated annual tour. After Ben introduced himself, Segovia helped this young man by setting up lessons with one of his assistants, Jose Tomas. All of Ben’s sacrifice would soon be rewarded in Madrid, the summer of 1973. He would study with the ultimate, Andres Segovia. At nineteen, Segovia, out of his own pocket, bequeathed a full scholarship for Ben to continue his music studies in Spain! "Clean, with a sound to be admired!" Andres Segovia In the Spring of 1974 Ben headed to Paris to meet Abel Carlevaro. As the train headed for Paris, through the snow covered peaks of the Great Pyrenees, Ben recalls the sleepless night. "It was a full moon, and very cold." Impressed with Ben’s enthusiasm, Carlevaro invited Bolt to study with him under full scholarship at the yearly Master Classes held in Porto Allegre Brazil. Bolt now decided to make Montevideo, Uruguay his new home. Bolt completed his music studies under the direction of maestro Guido Santorsola at the "Escuela Normal de Musica". Ben Bolt first received national attention in "Spotlight", an article written by Mike Varney, columnist for Guitar player magazine. His arrangement of Bach's Bourree in E minor was the first classical guitar transcription to appear in "Guitar for the Practicing Musician" bringing classical guitar to the attention of heavy metal guitarists worldwide. His signing contracts with Cherry Lane Music in New York soon followed. Ben Bolt highlighted more success with the publication of his version of Classical Gas by Mason Williams. Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida presented his first public performance on national T. V. For more than a quarter of a century, he served as an adjunct professor of guitar at Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tennessee. Ironically, his most notable students are not classical but in major rock bands. Brian Bell, lead guitarist of "Weezer" and Brian Vohdin, drummer of "Ten Years" who began as a guitar player. According to Music Trades magazine and National Public Radio, Mel Bay Music Publishers Inc., the foremost publisher of guitar instructions in the world, credits Ben Bolt with being the first guitarist ever to introduce the classical guitar to the masses using notation, tablature, and the recording format, in the same package. Ben Bolt has inked three bestsellers for his achievements with Mel Bay. His best selling titles with Cherry Lane Music (dist. by Hal Leonard), "39 Progressive Guitar Solos Volumes 1 & 2" have been in print for over two decades. He has published works with recordings of Tárrega, Sor, Carcassi, Mozart, Paganini, J.S. Bach, Carulli and Giuliani. Guitarists worldwide frequently perform Ben Bolt’s arrangements on You Tube. Along with Walt Disney, Luciano Pavarotti, and Shinichi Suzuki, Ben Bolt is the first and only guitarist inducted into Delta Omicron as a National Patron. He won first place in the, "Concurso Internacional A.E.M.U.S." by unanimous decision held in Montevideo Uruguay (1975). Columbia Music published Ben’s, his first publication, Valses Poeticos by Enrique Granados. The San Francisco Conservatory of Music invited Ben Bolt to assist maestro Carlevaro in his debut of North America in 1976. Medaled with the St Andrews Cross, Ben Bolt is a knight of the Ducal Order of the “Cross of Burgundy”. Composers have also written original works for Ben Bolt. Abel Carlevaro awarded him the coveted medal, "Premio al Merito" at the National Library of Montevideo.
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