>>> Biography <<<
Hailed in the international media as “one of the world's greatest solo performers of renaissance lute music”, English lutenist Ben Salfield was born in Staffordshire in 1971, and has lived in Cornwall since childhood.
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After a few months of lessons with Ian Thomson at Truro Guitar Studios in 1984-5, Salfield's teacher moved away and so he began developing teaching techniques that he still uses today in masterclasses and lessons.
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In December 1988, he made his concert debut in St Ives, Cornwall, and two months later received a standing ovation for his performance at a Lute Society meeting in Queen's Square, London. His international debut was in Cologne, Germany, at the end of a 1993 tour that earned him sensational media reviews. In 1996, after a number of one-off international appearances, he took part in his first foreign tour, in the Czech Republic. Since then, he has regularly appeared as a soloist and in various ensembles across Europe. Known for his on-the-edge, charismatic style of performance, Ben Salfield has performed to some of the largest audiences ever recorded for lute music, and given concerts in most Continental capital cities.
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Scores of music festivals, both nationally and internationally, have hosted Salfield's performances, including those at Bratislava, Brno, Cheltenham, Dolný Kubín, Graz, Gyöngyös, Hay, Hof, Nuremberg, Katowice, Malmö, Milan, Modra, Newbury, Nordhorn, Parma, Plymouth, Prague, Prostejov, Roseland, St. Austell, St. Ives, Swaledale, Warsaw, Zlín and Zory.
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Apart from solo concerts, Salfield has appeared with many ensembles, from duos to string quartets. He is a founder member of the latin | jazz | rock group "Horsemen of the Apocalypse", which features his brother Jon on Flamenco guitar, plus Rowan Nightingale on bass and Simon Stanton on percussion. The group has appeared across the UK and Europe for anywhere between a few dozen and thirteen-plus thousand people, has been seen on BBC World TV by an estimated 12 million people worldwide, and recorded its debut album, "Revelation", in December 2016.
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Ben Salfield at Nordhorn Festival 2015.
As a promoter, Salfield has founded and directed dozens of concert series and festivals since 1992. Ben Salfield was most recently Musical Director of the Helly International Guitar, which ran from 2016-2023 and was based in Helston, the UK's most southerly town. Currently, he heads up the KC Artists International Guitar Series, which will promote no fewer than 27 concerts in 2025.
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Ben Salfield's two solo discs, "10 Years of Luting..." and "Fantasie" are his most notable recordings. In his 40th anniversary year he is set to release an album with BenOla Duo, though the format has yet to be announced.
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Following the publication of Salfield's 2010 guitar suite "5-4-10", written for Andrea Dieci, by Polish publishers Modran in December 2012, he was signed up by Peacock Press to produce books of lute music. After twelve editions and four years, Salfield left Peacock Press and announced that he had signed a deal with Danish publishers Bergmann Edition to produce lute music editions with guitar transcriptions.
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Since 2013 Ben Salfield has performed exclusively on a Kif Wood built 10-course guitar - an instrument that replaced his now retired Philip Brown 10-course lute after it was rebuilt three times following transit incidents with careless airlines. The design of the instrument owes more to cutting-edge technology than to tradition, but it looks like a multi-stringed guitar and sounds "like a loud lute". It is both aesthetically beautiful and sturdy in construction, yet lightweight to carry and transport, and does not use traditional animal glues.
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In June 2019, Ben Salfield announced his retirement from international solo tours with immediate effect, though he still performs one-off concerts in the UK and on the Continent. ​
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Ben Salfield is endorsed by:
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Hannabach Strings GOLDIN 1869 ANNIVERSARY EDITION & SILVER SPECIALS
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Onen Emporium TATTOOIST
