Soloists / Ensembles / Guitar makers
Players, Ensembles and Makers
The Brahms Guitar has developed through an international community of performers, ensembles and instrument makers. This directory documents people and institutions whose work has contributed to the instrument’s performance practice, repertoire, construction or public understanding.
Being an evolving record, new entries and corrections are welcomed when supported by reliable evidence.
Performers
Lucas de Almeida — guitarist whose channel documents performances on the Brahms Guitar. YouTube channel.
Fabrizio Baranello — Italian guitarist.
Nicolas de Souza Barros — Brazilian guitarist and UNIRIO professor whose work includes performance and research with the instrument. Unirio.
Giacomo Copiello — Italian guitarist and researcher whose work focuses on transcription, new repertoire, and the evolving instrumental identity of the Brahms Guitar. Official website.
Gustavo Silveira Costa — Brazilian performer and academic whose work contributes to the instrument’s professional and educational history. Ffcrlp.
Aleksey Dukhovich — classical guitarist, teacher and guitar maker based in Slovakia. YouTube channel.
Joseph Ehrenpreis — American representative of a younger generation extending the instrument’s repertoire and public presence. Official website.
Paul Galbraith — the artistic originator of the Brahms Guitar and its foremost exponent. Official website.
Yoni Garmider — classical guitarist. YouTube channel.
Vincenzo Giura — Italian guitarist and professor of guitar at the Conservatorio Nino Rota in Monopoli. Conservatorio Nino Rota profile.
Everton Gloeden — Brazilian performer and academic associated with the Brazilian Guitar Quartet and the University of São Paulo. Violaobraileiro.
Alan Guerreiro — Brazilian classical guitarist, teacher and researcher whose work addresses repertoire and technique for the Brahms Guitar.
Spyros Kaniaris — Greek guitarist and researcher whose writing addresses the Brahms Guitar and its performance practice. Notas de paso.
Matthew Korbanic — guitarist and educator. Official website.
Stanley Levi — Brazilian guitarist.
Matthew Linder — guitarist who documented his work with the eight-string Brahms Guitar through a video-log and repertoire-chart series. YouTube channel.
Alf Wilhelm Lundberg — Norwegian guitarist and composer. Rogalyd profile.
Luiz Mantovani — Brazilian guitarist, researcher and member of the Brazilian Guitar Quartet. Official website.
Rafael Ohira — classical guitarist. YouTube channel.
Redmond O’Toole — Irish performer, arranger and researcher; a key figure in chamber repertoire and the Dublin Guitar Quartet. Official website.
Ricardo Pozo — Chilean classical-guitar teacher who has served as coordinator of Studies at El Salvador’s Sistema de Coros y Orquestas Juveniles.
Slaven Špoljarić — Croatian guitarist & composer. Youtube channel.
Steve Thorneycroft — Australian guitarist-composer and member of EphenStephen. EphenStephen profile.
Kyle Throw — Denver-based guitarist and composer. Wilson Burnham Guitars.
Alexander Vynograd — Ukrainian-born classical guitarist. David Records.
Ensembles
Brazilian Guitar Quartet
Formed in 1998, the ensemble helped establish the Brahms Guitar in professional chamber music. Its founding members were Paul Galbraith, Everton Gloeden, Edelton Gloeden and Tadeu do Amaral. The ensemble later developed its characteristic formation of two eight-string and two six-string guitars. After Galbraith’s departure in 2003, Luiz Mantovani joined the quartet, with later formations also including Edson Lopes and Gustavo Costa. The quartet’s concert and educational work in Brazil created an important early context for the instrument.
Dublin Guitar Quartet
From the early 2000s, the ensemble incorporated the Brahms Guitar into contemporary quartet practice and new commissions. Redmond O’Toole played a central role in this development alongside Brian Bolger, Patrick Brunnock and Tomas O’Durcain.
Progetto Zenobia
Progetto Zenobia is an Italian guitar trio formed in 2025 by Carlo Curatolo, Vincenzo Giura and Sante Mileti. The ensemble focuses on transcription for three guitars (two six-string and one BG) and has begun establishing its presence through concert and festival appearances.
Guitar-makers
Wilson Burnham — Has built several eight-string Brahms Guitars for guitarist-composer Kyle Throw, supporting his compositions and arrangements of video-game themes. Maker’s documentation.
Sebastiano Fracasso — Completed and documented an eight-string Brahms Guitar tuned in 2026 for the Conservatory of Monopoli, Italy. Maker’s documentation.
Bert Kwakkel — Built cedar- and spruce-top eight-string Brahms Guitars for Redmond O’Toole. Maker’s documentation.
Lindsay McKay — Built a fan-fretted eight-string Brahms Guitar inspired by the Rubio–Galbraith design, with extended bass and treble range. Maker’s documentation.
Erez Perelman — Built an eight-string Brahms Guitar for Yoni Garmider, incorporating a custom tailpiece and adjustable angled endpin for greater playing stability. Maker’s documentation.
David Rubio — Developed and built the first eight-string Brahms Guitar prototype with Paul Galbraith, completed in the final days of 1993. Historical account.
Miroslav Tadić — Built an eight-string Brahms Guitar for Joseph Ehrenpreis using California redwood and Indian rosewood. Player’s documentation.
Belisario Verde — Built an eight-string Brahms Guitar for classical guitarist Giacomo Copiello. Player’s documentation.
Martin Woodhouse — Built his first Brahms Guitar in 2001 and has since continued and substantially developed David Rubio’s eight-string design. Maker’s documentation.
Sources and Scope
This page draws on published interviews, maker documentation, institutional biographies, recordings, concert programmes and doctoral research. The directory is selective and will grow through verifiable contributions. Detailed references appear in Academic Research & Bibliography.