Martin Mastik
Martin Mastik studied guitar in London with John Duarte and lute at the Early Music Center with Anthony Rooley and Chris Wilson. Upon graduation he received the Hepzibah Menuhin Award and participated in masterclasses with Julian Bream in Lübeck and Andrés Segovia in Los Angeles. He then embarked on concert tours around the world. In America he performed in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, Richmond, Miami, Cleveland and New York. Engagements in Europe took him to London, Nice, Reims, Helsinki, Barcelona, Mallorca, Leipzig, Dresden, Prague and Munich, where he replaced his mentor Julian Bream at short notice for a concert in the Hercules Hall. In Asia he performed in Japan, China, Macao, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and the Philippines. He has appeared at prestigious festivals including Lahti, Verbier, Nice, Schleswig-Holstein, Pollença-Mallorca, Istanbul Music Festival, Toledo International Music Festival, Miami Tango Festival, Macao International Music Festival, Flâneries Musicales d’Été de Reims and in Tours, where he was featured soloist in a televised performance of Vivaldi’s Double Concerto for Viola and Guitar with Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Solisti.
Mastik has taught at the University of Tokyo, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, the National University of Singapore, the National Arts Academy Kuala Lumpur, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music, Temple University in Philadelphia, the Malta Conservatory and the conservatory in Toledo, Spain. He has also held masterclasses in Assisi and at the International Summer Music Academy in Nice. His engagements include a recital with Frederica von Stade at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, a solo recital and chamber concert with Nigel Kennedy and Cho-Liang Lin at the Verbier Festival, and an all-Schubert recital at the Schubert Festival in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Further highlights include performances with the Pražák Quartet at the Regensburg Music Festival and solo recitals at the Bing Theater of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Manoel Theatre in Malta, the Palace of Culture in Algiers and the Cleveland Museum of Art. In 2002–2003 he toured Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Algeria and Malta, giving recitals, masterclasses and TV live concerts under the patronage of the U.S. Embassies.
Mastik discovered and gave the world premiere of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Third Guitar Concerto – Capriccio Diabolico in the revised version for guitar and orchestra with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitri Kitajenko at Grieg Hall, Bergen, Norway, on October 5, 1996. On November 28, 1999 he premiered the work in Germany with the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig conducted by Herbert Blomstedt at a special UNICEF Gala. The British premiere of Astor Piazzolla’s Guitar Concerto was given by Mastik at London’s Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1998.
In April 2002 he performed the premiere of Piazzolla’s guitar concerto with the New World Symphony in Miami. In the 2003 season he appeared as soloist in the same concerto with the Dresden Philharmonic. Martin Mastik, an American citizen born in the Czech Republic, performs on a “Perseveranda” guitar by José Luis Romanillos.
Reviews: New York Times – “A talented artist: his instincts are directly musical, skillful and intelligently conceived performance.” L.A. Times – “A dramatic, purposeful and intensely involved performance, refreshing fluency and conviction.” Die Welt – “The festival has long been a place where first-class talent is forged. This is true, too, for Martin Mastik, who was irresistible.” Birmingham Post – “Captivated his audience by formidable talent combined with great personal charm.” Sun-Sentinel Miami – “Mastik was superb in his atmospheric opening cadenza.” Dresden Neueste Nachrichten – “Handled his instrument with lover’s gentleness and raised the listeners from their seats.”
