Consone Quartet, Johan Löfving & Nanako Aramaki
Biography Consone Quartet, Johan Löfving & Nanako Aramaki
Johan Löfving
Since being prize winner in the prestigious London International Guitar Competition, Swedish Johan Löfving has established himself as one of the most exciting musicians of a new generation. His performances have taken him to some of the world's finest concert halls such as Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, The Sage Gateshead, Wiener Saal Salzburg and Konzertsaal der Wiener Sängerknaben in Vienna. Additionally, he has appeared in major festivals including Spitalfields, King's Lynn, Stratford-on-Avon, Brighton Early Music Festival, Cambridge Summer Music Festival, Bath Guitar Festival, Saxå Chamber Music Festival, Styriarte Festival Graz and Carinthischer Sommer in Villach, Austria.
He graduated with First Class Honours from the Royal College of Music in London where he studied guitar with Gary Ryan, theorbo with Jakob Lindberg and conducting with Natalia Luis-Bassa. At RCM he was awarded both the Guitar Prize and the Hilda Anderson Dean Prize. Later, he completed his studies with Prof. Robert Wolff at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Additionally, in 2011 Johan was awarded the First Prize in the Young Talent Concert at the Uppsala Guitar Festival in Sweden the performance was recorded and broadcasted later by the Swedish Radio P2.
The following year he was honored to receive the Jörgen Rörby Prize from the Swedish Guitar and Lute Society as well as their audience prize.
Since 2009, Johan has been performing regularly with his wife, flautist Yu-Wei Hu as Flauguissimo Duo. They have specialized in the early 19th century repertoire and its exciting blend of spontaneous musical conversations and sublime beauty. The musical experience is heightened by their use of period instruments and Johan is particularly fond of his beautifully ornamented french guitar dating back to 1850.
Apart from his long term work with Flauguissimo Duo, he has worked with some of the finest musicians, such as baritone Thomas Guthrie, tenor Rob Murray, Barokksolistene and pianist David Owen Norris who invited him to take part in the 'Playlist Series' on BBC Radio 4. His passion for new music has resulted in several world premieres of both solo and chamber works, notably by the highly acclaimed British composer and guitarist Sam Cave.
Johan also works regularly with recorder player Fatima Lahham as Improviso, focusing largely on music of the 17th century.
Johan is keen to emphasize the great inspiration he received from his teachers since the very beginning. He started to play at the age of nine at the Music School in Årjäng with Lars Eriksson. From there, he went on to study privately with the distinguished Norwegian Guitar Professor Sven Lundestad and later with Bo Hansson in Stockholm. Later he had the honour to study with legendary Eliot Fisk in Salzburg as part of the Erasmus Exchange Programme.
Johan plays on a guitar made by the Norwegian Luthier Yngvar Thomassen, a theorbo by German Wolfgang Emmerich and a French Tribout guitar from 1850.
