Tango–Guitar–Flamenco Week: Francisco Bernier (ESP), classical guitar
Spanish guitarist Francisco Bernier approaches Falla not only as a national icon, but as a composer whose voice still speaks across borders.
In 2026, the musical world celebrates the 150th anniversary of Manuel de Falla, one of the defining figures of twentieth-century Spanish music. Rather than presenting Falla in isolation, this recital places him at the centre of a wider musical constellation, exploring the traditions, encounters and artistic currents that shaped his world and can be heard in dialogue with his music. In this concert, Spanish guitarist Francisco Bernier approaches Falla not only as a national icon, but as a composer whose voice still speaks across borders.
Bernier is one of Spain’s most distinguished classical guitarists. His career has taken him to more than 40 countries, and he has received over twenty international prizes, including First Prize at the Michele Pittaluga International Guitar Competition. Alongside his performing career, he teaches in Seville, directs the Seville Guitar Festival and has long championed both the classical guitar tradition and new music.
Francisco Tárrega established a new poetic and virtuoso language for the modern guitar, while Isaac Albéniz, Joaquín Turina and Falla transformed Spanish popular traditions into music of international scope. Falla’s Hommage à Claude Debussy reflects his profound dialogue with French musical culture, a connection that finds a later echo in Maurice Ohana’s highly personal fusion of Iberian roots and modernist expression.
Across the Atlantic, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Agustín Barrios Mangoré followed comparable paths, bringing the rhythms, melodies and cultural identities of Latin America into the international concert repertoire. Through these different voices, the guitar becomes a meeting place between Spain and France, Europe and the Americas, tradition and modernity.
PROGRAM
- Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959): Preludio número 1
- Maurice Ohana (1913–1992): Tiento
- Manuel de Falla (1876–1946): Homenaje a Claude Debussy, Romance del pescador
- Joaquín Turina (1882–1949): Sonata op. 61
- Agustin Barrios Mangoré (1885–1944): Último trémolo
- Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909): Mallorca (Barcarola), op. 202
- Francisco Tárrega (1852–1909): Capricho Árabe, Recuerdos de la Alhambra, Gran Jota de Concierto
The event is part of the Tango–Guitar–Flamenco Week program. Tampere Tango Festival, Tampere Guitar Festival and Tampere Flamenco Week together form the Tango—Guitar—Flamenco Week, which will be held from 11 to 20 September 2026.