Chris has been the Principal of the Spanish Guitar Centre since 1991, and was General Manager for the previous 14 years. He trained as a teacher at St. Mary’s College, Twickenham, and as a guitarist with Joan Prior & Hector Quine at Trinity College London, and George Zarb at the London College of Music. Chris was one of the first peripatetic teachers in Gloucestershire, and continues to teach in schools in and around Avon. He has continued the tradition of class tuition, a method of guitar teaching pioneered at the Centre from its conception. 

Tim Royal

 A native of Bristol, Tim has been inextricably linked with the Guitar Centre since the 1960’s, where he has a well established reputation as a teacher and composer. Countless pupils have benefited from his dedicated approach to teaching and his ability to compose pieces and didactic material appropriate for every step of the student’s progress.

In 1981 his original compositions “Five Blues for the Classical Guitar” was published by Hampton Music Publishers. Being well received, one of the titles was incorporated into the Trinity College Guitar Exam syllabus for a period of seven years.

 He received international recognition of his skills as a composer when the Californian guitarist/composer Andrew York chose one of his compositions for inclusion in his book “Jazz Guitar for Classical Cats: a Classical Guitarist’s Guide to Jazz Harmony”. A further endorsement of Tim Royal’s reputation came when Andrew York asked him to write the sleeve notes for his best selling CD “Into Dark”.  Tim is also remembered by the many hundreds of guitarists attending the annual International Guitar Seminar at Prussia Cove where his musical expertise was much in demand

John has studied with Emilio Pujol, Alexandre Lagoya, John Mills and David Russell. After a duration as the guitar tutor at the Jamaica School of Music, he made his Wigmore Hall debut in 1975, and in 1983 trained as a teacher of the Alexander Technique, introducing many guitarists to the joys of ‘correct use’ of the body. He has performed with Thomas Hartman and Vincent Lindsay Clarke in the Emilio Pujol Centenary Concert, and in 1994 performed in the Festival Agustin Barrios in Paraguay. Since then he has combined solo work with collaborations with flautist Nicola Russell and keyboard player Penelope Weedon. He is also pursuing his interest in baroque music using a Stradivarius copy. 

As a student at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, Hayley was twice winner of the Guitar Prize and has also been three times winner of the guitar category at the Bath and Mid Somerset Music Festival. She has studied with Leo Brouwer, David Russell, Eliot Fisk, Simon Dinnigan and Jorge Morel. She combines careers in teaching, performance – as a soloist and a member of the Colibri Guitar Quartet – and composition. Her large scale work for guitar and string orchestra was performed in 1997 by John Mills and the Sarum String Orchestra at Salisbury cathedral. In 1999 she was the winner of the Ivor Mairants Guitar Award, and she is currently on the teaching staff at the Bath International Guitar Festival and Summer School. 

Roger Winfield 

Roger has been associated with the Centre for the last 20 years. During his long career he has worked in a wide variety of styles including classical, jazz, rock, folk and flamenco and has toured extensively throughout Europe. Roger’s wide experience is reflected in his teaching, which involves an all-round understanding of the guitar and its many possibilities. When not working with the guitar, Roger is to be found touring with his unique Aeolian Harps – amplified stringed instruments played entirely by the wind – playing at most major European festivals. His two CDs “Windsongs” and “Voices of the Wind” are available from the Spanish Guitar Centre. He plays guitar and mandolin in a working duo and the three volumes of his highly successful guitar duets “Tunes for Two”, as well as all his other compositions, are published by Starborn Music

Ben Watson CTABRSM, RGT Tutor

 Ben Watson moved to Bristol in 1998 to study French at Bristol University. At around this time he began playing jazz guitar at jam sessions and was soon performing regularly in the South West, London, the Midlands and Wales. An interest in the classical guitar led to study with Roger Winfield, which continues to the present day. Ben also teaches at St Brendan’s Sixth Form College and for Bristol Schools’ Music Services. He is one of five Registry of Guitar Tutors’ endorsed guitar teachers in the Bristol area.

 Cuffy

Born in Glasgow in 1971, Cuffy’s name is synonymous with flamenco guitar in Bristol and far beyond! In the last six months he has played flamenco in places as diverse as Spain, Russia, Italy, Turkey and Wales! He has lived in Bristol for the past 12 years, where he regularly performs and teaches and is much in demand accompanying dancers and singers. He studied flamenco under Tito Heredia, Paco Serrano and Gerardo Nunez and is also a member of the World Music fusion group “Up bustle and out” with whom he has made television appearances, recordings and toured extensively in Europe, Russia and Japan. He can be seen every Sunday evening at “El Puerto” Tapas Bar, Prince Street, Bristol.

Link – http://www.myspace.com/cuffyflamenco

Anna Janosova 

A graduate of the Conservatoire in Zilina, Slovakia, Anna was trained by Prof. Dusan Lehotsky, one of the most famous teachers in Slovakia. Trained initially as a performer and later as a guitar teacher, she participated in many guitar competitions and festivals and was a prize winner in the “Festival of Slovak Conservatoires”, where she also won the “Award of the Slovak Music Fund” for her performance of a work by a Slovak composer. In 1990 and 1992 she participated in the “International Guitar Festival Kutna Hora” in the Czech Republic and, in 1992, in the “North London Musical Festival” in the UK and was a prize winner at the “International Guitar Festival” in Zory, Poland. In 1993 she took part in the “International Guitar Competition” in Krakow, Poland and from 1987 to 1992 participated in the “Guitar Festival of J.K. Mertz” in Bratislava, Slovakia and took part in many master classes. 

In 1993 she began teaching the guitar at the Art School in Slovakia and, from 1998, at the Private Art School in Slovakia, which she established and which continues to flourish.

Because she has a degree in English language and literature and is interested in English culture, she moved to the UK in 2005 and chose Bristol because of the Spanish Guitar Centre, where she is a very welcome addition to the teaching staff!