Some careers are built city by city; Jacob Cordover's has been built continent by continent. The Australian guitarist, long based in Barcelona, has enticed audiences in more than a dozen countries across four continents, moving easily between solo recitals, chamber music and the byways of forgotten nineteenth-century repertoire. His is the kind of curious, wide-ranging musicianship that keeps the instrument feeling alive.
A Suzuki start in Australia
Cordover began asking to play the guitar when he was only three or four; his parents bought him an instrument and enrolled him in Suzuki lessons at around ten. His formative studies were at the Australian National University School of Music with the renowned performer and teacher Timothy Kain. From there his training became international: postgraduate study at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya with Laura Young and at the Escola Luthier with Arnaldur Arnarson in Barcelona, the city he made his home.
A scholar of the period
Cordover also pursued the historical side of the instrument, studying nineteenth-century performance practice with Carlo Barone at the Academia l'Ottocento in Paris and taking several long residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. That training shows in his programming: audiences are as likely to hear him give a world premiere as to hear him revive a forgotten Romantic gem on a period instrument.
Soloist and chamber musician
He has appeared throughout Australia, Canada, the United States, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, both alone and with his chamber ensembles — the Zoco Duo, with the oboist Laura Karney, and the Australian Guitar Duo, which he formed back in 2000 with Rupert Boyd while still studying with Timothy Kain. His discography runs to eight CDs, four as a soloist and four in duo, and his playing has featured in television, radio and podcast programmes.
From the baroque to the new
What ties it all together is range. Cordover programmes freely from the baroque to the contemporary, comfortable with the Latin American repertoire — the Venezuelan waltzes of Antonio Lauro among them — as well as the European tradition. He has been a prize-winner at competitions including the International Guitar Competition of the Córdoba Festival in Spain. For all his travels, his music keeps a directness and warmth that audiences across four continents have clearly recognised.
FAQ
Where is Jacob Cordover from?
He is Australian, trained at the Australian National University, and is based in Barcelona.
Who did he study with?
Timothy Kain in Australia, and later Laura Young and Arnaldur Arnarson in Barcelona, among others.
What ensembles does he play in?
The Zoco Duo (with oboe) and the Australian Guitar Duo (with Rupert Boyd), alongside his solo career.
