Miguel Ablóniz

Miguel Ablóniz, also known as Michelis Ablonitis (29 May 1917 – 19 July 2001) was a Greek-Italian guitarist and composer who composed and performed in diverse styles, including classical and Bossa Nova. Career Ablóniz began playing the guitar at the age of eight in self-study. He began his musical career as a teenager when he appeared on the radio and gave concerts in Cairo. Later he studied music theory, piano, violin and guitar at the Barcelona Conservatory. He was taught by Emilio Pujol, Juan Díaz del Moral, and Pujol’s wife Matilde Cuervas, from whom he learned to play flamenco. After he moved to Italy, he initially continued his career as a concertizing musician, but in 1953 he founded his own music school in Milan. He also taught the master class at the School of Music at Ithaca College in New York City for many years. He had great success as a teacher: his ideas on technique and performance aesthetics proved influential in the international guitar scene; he held renowned annual masterclasses in New York, and was the teacher of musicians such as Aldo Minella and Riccardo Zappa. As a composer, he collaborated mainly with the publishing houses Casa Ricordi and Bèrben. Among his