Our guest artist in the series of Young Professionals this season was Michael Hulmes - a young guitarist of serious promise. Michael started his programme with several pieces by Gaspar Sanz followed by John Dowlands' Farewell.

All in this performance was impressive: the right atmosphere, style and very good technique. Michael continued with the Suite Venezolana by Antonio Lauro. This is one of the most serious works by the great Venezuelan composer and Michael indeed did justice to it! Again, it was a very atmospheric performance - very accomplished technically and stylish. We all appreciated a short introduction given by Michael before the piece.

Two pieces by Barrios - his well-known Barcarole and lesser-known Aconquija gave Michael a good chance to show the lyrical qualities of his playing, although the limitations of his guitar were becoming more apparent - the volume was slightly limited and trebles could be warmer, I thought.

Finally, the very popular Usher Waltz by Koshkin - a convincing performance despite the fact that with such a well-known piece there is a great demand on the performer to find the right balance between the original and the trivial.

Without doubt Michael is a musician with distinct personality, depth and ample abilities. We all are very grateful to him for an excellent performance and wish him a bright future.

Sasha Levtov
West Sussex Guitar Club