Puerta-Vázquez Duo Visits GSI and Records Music By Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Joaquin Rodrigo!

Recently, we had a chance to record a new duet in our showroom. Classical guitarists, José Luis Puerta and Alfredo Vázquez are from Tucson, Arizona. During their first trip to GSI, they recorded four videos as a duet. José also recorded one solo video.

José Luis Puerta received his doctoral degree in guitar from the University of Arizona. Before that, he studied at the Conservatory of Music in Puerto Rico. Currently, José teaches General Music Education courses related to Latin American Music at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music.

Alfredo "Freddy" Vázquez is the regional director for Lead Guitar in Tucson, Arizona. He graduated from the University of Arizona and Oklahoma City University. Alfredo also works as an associate faculty of music at Cochise Community College.

​Both, José Luis Puerta and Alfredo Vázquez had a chance to study under the tutelage of Sergio and Odair Assad who provided them with unique knowledge and appreciation of classical guitar duets.

While at GSI, the duo recorded David Grimes' arrangements of three movements of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's "Apunti" - "I. Pavana" on a 2014 Teodoro Perez "Maestro" SP/MP and 2001 Brian Cohen SP/CSAR, "II. Gagliarda" on a 2015 Otto Vowinkel SP/CSAR and 2022 Marco Tejeda "Chamberi" SP/AR, and "III. Gavotta" on a 2009 Mariano Tezanos "Maestro" SP/CSAR and 2015 Annette Stephany SP/IN. It's worth mentioning, that José and Alfredo have recently released the entire album dedicated to music by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

Next, José and Alfredo recorded the first movement from Joaquin Rodrigo's "Tonadilla". In this video, you can hear them playing on a 2022 Teodoro Perez "Estudio C-650" CD/IN and 2012 Arturo Sanzano "Concierto" SP/IN.

After finishing playing their duo repertoire, José also recorded one solo piece - "Canto De Sirenas" by Juan Sorroche on a 2005 Manuel Contreras II "Double Top" CD/CSAR.

Check out their videos below!