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Concert Guitarist Carlos de la Barrera, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, will perform on Monday, January 31 at 7:30 p.m. in Kretschmer Recital Hall of the Aquinas College Art and Music Center. He has performed extensively throughout the Americas. His most recent international touring includes solo recitals at the Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Vale Veneto, Santa Mara, Brazil; and Centro Cultural para las Artes, Montevideo, Uruguay. The concert is free and open to the public.

de la Barrera came to the United States in 1991 on full scholarship to work on a master degree in Classical Guitar Performance at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. He graduated summa cum laude in 1994. He was a student of the famous Classical Guitarist and Composer Jorge Martinez Zarate, touring artist and head of the Classical Guitar Department at the Musikhochschule Maria Isabel Siewers, Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria, and former student of Andres Segovia and Chairman of the Classical Guitar Department at the College-Conservatory of Music - University of Cincinnati.

Winner of the WGUC-FM Performance Competition and Semi-finalist at the Great Lakes International Classical Guitar Competition, de la Barrera's Classical and Latin-American recital program performances have received rave reviews. Alan Scheidt, classical music critic, described Mr. de la Barrera's live broadcast as "beautifully executed" (WGUC-FM, Cincinnati). Renato Butturi, president of the Evansville Classical Guitar Society, wrote: "Barrera's virtuosity and Latin style captivated the audience" (La Citarrina, Indiana). Chris Cavanaugh, staff writer at Calvin College commented: "elegant and beautiful performance, de la Barrera displayed virtuosity and mastery of the classical guitar technique" (Calvin College Chimes, Michigan).

Recent and forthcoming orchestral engagements in the U.S. include Mahler's "Symphony #7" and Mark O'Connor's "Summer" with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra; Aaron Jay Kernis' new guitar concerto, "The Dance Hits," and Astor Piazzolla's "Double Concerto for Guitar, Bandoneon, and Strings," with the Holland Symphony Orchestra; Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez," with the Calvin College Symphony Orchestra; and "Fantasia para un Gentilhombre" with the Andrews University Symphony Orchestra and the Grand Valley State University (GVSU) Symphony Orchestra.

Since 1994 Mr. de la Barrera has served on the faculty at the Summer Classical Guitar Workshop, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. He is currently teaching guitar at Grand Valley State University, Calvin College, and ÂÌñÒùÆÞ in Michigan and is the president of the Grand Rapids Classical Guitar Society and director of the GVSU Annual Classical Guitar Workshop.