Biography

It is no exaggeration at all when a reviewer writes this about the successful Cologne guitarist: “Plessner’s playing is intensive and skilful; he interprets the works masterfully… this guitarist presents classical guitar with agility and a modern approach…”. Plessner is a virtuoso on the six-stringed instrument, unrivalled in Germany.

The musical motto of Lucian Plessner, who was only nine when he knew he wanted to be a classical guitarist, is this: If you play solo guitar, you’re playing chamber music. But when Plessner started his musical education, the guitar hadn't been recognized as a classical instrument for quite some time already. So he started out playing the violin. This project lasted only two years; Plessner began teaching himself to play the guitar, inspired by Argentine folk music and the Argentine guitarist and singer Eduardo Falú. At the age of 15, Plessner gave his first solo concert. This was followed by studies at the Musikhochschule in Cologne with Prof. Tadashi Sasaki. His first musical mentors and role models include Igor Ozim of the Musikhochschule in Cologne, Peter Schidloff and Martin Lovett of the Amadeus Quartet, the legendary concertmaster Haim Taub of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, composer Igor Kefalidi and cellist Ferenc Milhály. After his graduation, Plessner spent five years in Spain, studying in Cordoba with Alicia de Larrocha; after perfecting his Spanish concert repertoire, in 1987 he became the first non-Spaniard to be engaged for a national solo tour.

1989 was the year of his international breakthrough: the legendary Leonard Bernstein authorized this exceptional German guitarist to adapt his compositions for concert guitar. With his Bernstein Programme, this Cologne native took to international concert halls, appearing together with Vladimir Ashkenazy, Shlomo Mintz and Mstislaw Rostropowitsch; he performed on the fifth anniversary of the death of “Lenny” in 1995 at the Israeli Kfar Blum Festival as well as at the Settimane Musicali di Stresa e del Lago Maggiore. In 1994, Plessner performed his Bernstein Programme to mark the birthday of Lord Yehudi Menuhin. In October 2006, Plessner – whose playing is unbelievably precise and full of emotion – participated in the festival Leonard Bernstein - from Boston to Broadway at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has worked with such greats as Klaus Maria Brandauer, Argentine flautist Raúl Olarte and Katja Ebstein. In a program dedicated to the harmonic interplay of “Light and Sound”, Plessner and the New York light artist and American Academy Award winner Tom Brigham created their unusual and extremely successful art project, Lichtkonzert mit Bach (light show with Bach), in the historical Wuppertal City Hall.

Plessner’s repertoire ranges from classical (Johann Sebastian Bach) to flamenco, from Augustín Barrios to the American Broadway musical. With his versatility, virtuosity and originality, this brilliant musician has long been internationally renowned as a master of contemporary classical chamber music.

For further information about the artist, see www.lucian-plessner.com.