Lady of Spain

Guitarists of international reputation annually beat a path to Cal State Northridge, lured by its respected guitar department.

The public will get a chance to share that experience Saturday when the American Guitar Society International Concert series presents Spanish guitarist Margarita Escarpa.

Escarpa, who specializes in Spanish repertoire and baroque music, brings a traditional restraint and technical eloquence to the instrument. She was in residence at Cal State Fullerton--another classical guitar haven--earlier this week for a concert and master classes.

The most readily available of her four CDs at local record stores is her set of guitar music by early 19th century composer Fernando Sor on the Naxos label. But her other projects can be accessed through her Web site https://www.arstrova.com/escarpa/cv.htm. Most recently, she released “Elegia” on the Belgian guitar-oriented GHA label.

In her all-Spanish program Saturday, one of the four composers she will feature is baroque composer Padre Antonio Soler. Escarpa plans to focus a future project on transcriptions of his work. Spanish music is close to her heart, and her heritage.

“I feel very familiarized with this music,” she said this week. “I think it is the kind of music that I play better than others.”

She points out that although guitar is very much an international instrument, much Spanish music has become standard fare for classical guitar. Guitar entered her life when she was 8 years old.

“At that time, my father liked music and he wanted me to play an instrument,” she said. “The easiest was the guitar because you can find a guitar easily in Spain. Even when I was 12 years old, I liked a lot of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky music. So my parents decided to send me to the conservatory.”

She studied at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Musica in Madrid and earned its coveted prize. Privately, she studied with such noted guitarists as the Scot David Russell. At one time, a physical condition kept her from playing guitar, and she worked instead toward a mathematics degree in Madrid.

“I had a problem with a finger in my left hand that was quite serious,” she said. “I could not play for a couple of years. I felt so frustrated by that and I realized how much I loved the guitar and music. That’s when I decided to continue with guitar and quit mathematics, because both things together were impossible to do.”

She went on to win several national and international prizes, including the International Competition “Andres Segovia” in 1993 and the Guitar Foundation of America in 1994.

BE THERE

Margarita Escarpa in recital Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Cal State Northridge Music Recital Hall, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. $10-$5. Call (818) 677-2488.