‘A la Cubana’ A Cuban Guitar Concert Featuring Nikos Baroutsakis

Nikos is a Greek Classical Guitarist and with an Artist Diploma from the Royal College of Music. His latest album ‘A la Cubana’ is a tribute to Cuban Guitar music. The specially commissioned music from Leo Brouwer and Eduardo Martin who are leading Cuban composers with world wide reputation.

Born in Athens, Greece, in 1989, Nikos Baroutsakis is a classically trained guitarist with a wide range of interests in different kinds of music. His love for the Buena Vista Social Club, combined with his discovery of the Cuban repertoire for the guitar, led to the release of his debut album, A la Cubana, in late 2024 by Pixaudio. The album is a tribute to Cuban music and was recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. It contains two new commissions dedicated to him by two world-renowned composers for the guitar: Leo Brouwer’s Toccata Cubana and Eduardo Martin’s Rincones Habaneros.

Nikos has performed in prestigious venues and organizations such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the Bridewell Theatre, the Philippos Nakas Conservatory, Sofar Sounds, Debut Opera, the Volterra Project, and the Marchland Festival, where he had the opportunity to collaborate with folk singer Savina Yannatou and jazz guitarist Alex Roth.

Beyond his performing and recording career, Nikos is a dedicated tutor based in London, United Kingdom and is currently the guitar teacher at Brighton College Prep Kensington, Riddlesdown Collegiate and Young Music Makers. Besides his work in schools, he also runs his own private teaching studio.

Nikos began his formal studies on the guitar as a teenager with Dimitris Pappas, with whom he obtained his Soloist Diploma. He then moved on to study at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in the class of Antigoni Goni, where he graduated with both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Music. The final chapter of his studies took place in London at the Royal College of Music as an RCM Award Holder, supported by a Soirée d’Or Award, where he earned an Artist Diploma in Performance under professors Gary Ryan and Charles Ramirez.

Nikos has participated in masterclasses with some of the world’s greatest guitarists, including Sergio Assad, Dušan Bogdanović, Zoran Dukić, Eliot Fisk, René Izquierdo, Timo Korhonen, Pablo Márquez, Elena Papandreou, Konrad Ragossnig, Raphaëlla Smits, and Gohar Vardanyan.

Nikos plays on a guitar made especially for him by José Marín Plazuelo in Granada, Spain.

Repertoire first half

• Ernesto Lecuona: I. La Comparsa II. Danza Lucumi III.A la Antigua
• Nico Rojas: Guajira a mi Madre
• Eduardo Martin: I. Son del Barrio II. Mirandote
• Leo Brouwer: I. Rito de los Orishas: Exordium II. Conjuro III. Rito de los Orishas: Danza de las Diosas Negra

Intermission with tea and biscuits.

Repertoire second half

Manuel Saumell: Recuerdos Tristes

Ignacio Cervantes: I. Los Tres Golpes II. Adios a Cuba

Eduardo Martin: I. Rincones Habaneros: I – Motivos II. Razones

Aldo Rodriguez: Cancion y Danza

Leo Brouwer: Toccata Cubana

Examples of his work can be seen here:

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