Julio Reyes will be giving a masterclass on June.26. Details and artist bio are listed below. . The fee for this class is $70 for a slot which will directly go to the artist. Julio Reyes will be in Vancouver from June 25-29 and if you would like to arrange a private lesson with Julio, let us know below.
Our event will be held at Tapestry Music with doors open at noon. Need strings, sheet music or gear? The shop will be happy to take your order while you are in for the class and doing so helps out the VCGS too. Please help support the businesses supporting us!
Tapestry Music (Vancouver location) - 4440 W 10th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6R 2H9
Julio Reyes’ Bio
Julio was gifted at an early age with a fine-tuned musical ear. At age 5, Julio sat in on one of the guitar lessons his father was giving at their home. After seeing that his son was able to distinguish between his student’s mistakes and accomplishments, he taught him a Paraguayan piece on a small harp, which he played for his mother that afternoon when she got home from her job as a seamstress. His father, Carlos, was a former Musical Diplomat for his native Paraguay, South America. He studied with Dionicio Basualdo, who was a protégé of Agustin Barrios. Julio’s mother, Carmen, was from Colombia, South America where she sang on the radio and acted in an improv. troupe. After her son played the harp for her, she told her husband to teach him guitar since that was his forté. He first learned to play by watching his father play a few measures on a guitar and then repeat what he played on the smaller guitar his father gave him. This process continued while his father taught him how to read music.
He gave his first recital at the age of 12 and the following year, was an award winner at the International Agustin Barrios Guitar Competition in Mexico City where the average age of his competitors was at least 20 years his senior! Also, by then he had commenced studies in piano, cello, voice, music theory and conducting at the Summer Music Program at the University of California at Berkeley, and had won the Martin Luther King, Jr. Music Competition on cello and guitar.
At age 14 at the invitation of the Paraguayan government, he traveled to South America to perform guitar recitals on radio and TV and was a guest artist at the Annual Independence Day festivities at the Municipal Soccer Stadium performing for over 80,000 attendees.