Craig Ogden is one of the great guitarists of our time, and has been a regular fixture in the UK Classical Charts with his albums being among the best- selling classical releases of the year. He is a firm favourite with Classic FM listeners, and this new album will be eagerly awaited by them.

Belfast-born composer Brian Knowles’ concerto written for his guitarist son is infused with Spanish traditional music and atmosphere, and is beautifully written for guitar. Fans of Rodrigo’s famous concerto will immediately be attracted to this new concerto, which also contains a slow movement that has an ability to stay in the listener’s head long after the music has stopped! Poco Rondo was written for Craig, and is a virtuosic solo work that displays his artistry superbly. The Eight Songs for tenor and guitar are settings of Shakespeare, Shelley, Burns, de la Mare and Byron and are sung by James Gilchrist.

Brian Knowles

Brian was born in Belfast in 1946 and was educated at the Liverpool Blue Coat School. He went on to study composition at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1970 he formed the group ‘Saffron’. Brian subsequently became Musical Director of concerts worldwide for Roger Whittaker, many of his songs being performed and recorded by both Saffron and Roger. In 2002 Brian’s anthem ‘Jubilee Tribute’ was composed and performed especially for HRH The Queen at the Service of Remembrance, and was broadcast worldwide from the Royal Albert Hall. He is also Composer in Residence at The Royal School, Haslemere.