CONTACT: Brian Ososky
Director of Marketing & Public Relations
863-734-1210; bososky@boktower.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2013

Spanish Guitarist Robert Phillips ‘Live at the Gardens’ April 13

LAKE WALES, Fla.— Classical guitarist Robert Phillips performs an evening of music from Spain and Latin America at the Bok Tower Gardens Visitor Center Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. as the final performance of the spring “Live at the Gardens” concert series.

Phillips is an award-winning performer whose repertoire includes some of Spain’s best loved and most performed composers, including Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Francisco Tárrega, as well as the sultry rhythms of Latin American composers like Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Since making his debut to a sold-out Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Phillips has brought his brilliant interpretations to a diverse range of venues – from jazz nightclubs to traditional concert halls like New York’s prestigious Town Hall and Lincoln Center. He has appeared as a guest soloist with the Imperial Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Festival Orchestra, and the West Islip Chamber Orchestra, and has appeared as a guest artist at the Miami International Guitar Festival, the Guitar Foundation of America, and the American String Teachers’ Association.

“Virtuosic playing and a perfect sense of timing,” raves Guitar Extra of Phillips’ debut recording, Guitarre Nouveau. Will Crutchfield in the New York Times noted his “aptitude for putting across character.” His eclectic programming of classical music, Spanish guitar music, jazz, and contemporary music has excited audiences throughout the U.S., Middle East and Canada.

After completing a successful instructional series for Group W Cable TV entitled Classic Guitar Made Easy, Phillips was invited by Group W to produce and host a musically-oriented talk show, Long Island Sounds. He was formerly on the editorial staff of Guitar Review magazine, and has contributed a number of articles to Soundboard, the journal of the Guitar Foundation of America, and to American String Teacher, the journal of the American String Teachers’ Association. He spent three years as the classical guitar columnist for Guitar for the Practicing Musician and its sister publication, Guitar Extra, before becoming a contributing writer for Guitar Player. Many of his transcriptions and editions of works for classical guitar have been published in these magazines and by Cherry Lane Music Co., Inc. His anthology, Great Themes and Variations for Classic Guitar, was published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc., which also released his 2 CD recording of the same title.

Robert Phillips holds a doctorate in music from the University of Miami. A recipient of a Japan Fulbright, Dr. Phillips is respected internationally as a scholar, educator and performer. He is former student of Rey de la Torre, Carlos Barbosa-Lima and David Starobin.

Tickets for Robert Phillips’ April 13 concert at the Bok Tower Gardens Visitor Center are $25 each per person for general admission seating. For more information, visit www.boktowergardens.org or call 863-734-1222.

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About Bok Tower Gardens:
Voted Florida’s best garden, Bok Tower Gardens is a National Historic Landmark located 10 miles from LEGOLAND Florida, 55 miles southwest of Orlando and 60 miles east of Tampa near Lake Wales in Central Florida’s rolling hills of citrus. Open every day of the year from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Visitor Center, Café and Gift Shop are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults and $3 for ages 5-12. Members and children under 5 are admitted free. LEGOLAND ticket holders will receive free admission for children under 12. For more information, contact Bok Tower Gardens, 1151 Tower Boulevard, Lake Wales FL 33853; 863-676-1408 or visit www.BokTowerGardens.org.