Summer 2026
Hello!
It's been a while since I've written a blog post, but it was something I did regularly on my old website so thought I'd revive it here to mark the start of some new adventures and to keep track of what has been happening in my guitar world.
If you know me personally or follow my guitar journey, you will probably know that I released my debut album Dedicatoria earlier this year. You can read about it here on the website and here find some links to stream it, but it has been such an important moment for me and I'm so grateful for all of the support leading up to and after the release. The physical copies have flown out around the UK, to Europe, to Canada, and the Americas - thank you to everyone who has bought a copy or streamed the album digitally. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it 🥰
The album, which consists of music by the Argentine composer Carmen Guzmán (1925-2012), had both a Liverpool and London launch event and concert in March, and throughout the rest of the year I've spent time touring and promoting the album. Alongside some solo gigs, I've also had the pleasure of collaborating with Rachel Harland, an amazing Liverpool-based soprano; we made some arrangements of Guzmán's vocal repertoire and also performed music by Valencian composer Matilde Salvador (1918-2007). Another highlight in the Dedicatoria diaries was performing some of this music with my regular duo partner Mike Hughes, a fabulous vibraphone player and percussionist; we made some special arrangements of Guzmán's valses for guitar and vibes.
After finishing the 25/26 academic year in July, The Perello Duo (guitar and vibraphone with Mike Hughes) had the annual south coast tour in early August and we performed in Brighton, Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, and Eastbourne. Our set is a delicious blend of unique arrangements of classical repertoire, jazz standards, and Latin music which, somehow, works no matter where we play -- from the oldest church in Brighton to a circus tent in Eastbourne (picture below to prove it!) where we were joined by saxophonist Andy Panayi.
Mid-August, I went to West Dean International Guitar Festival to tutor. I can see why this festival has been running for as long as it has and is loved the way it is: what a blast!
Huge thanks again to Andrew Gough for the incredible organisation and invitation. It was such a pleasure to talk about and play music by women composers in my lecture-recital and I thoroughly enjoyed working with all of the students through the week. The line up of concerts was stellar: SoloDuo, Ingrid Riollot, Raphaella Smits, and Laura Snowden, and together with a super team of tutors (Gerald Garcia, Alison Bendy, Ian Watt, Peter Katona, Mike Baker), and friends old and new, an intensive week was made sooo much fun!
Speaking of women composers, I'm looking forward to continuing my research in this area in October 2026, when I'll be starting my PhD at the International Guitar Research Centre at the University of Surrey. My research will primarily focus on select twentieth century composers whose works for guitar have never been published/are out of print, and my quest is to investigate the context, and help to illuminate them for future performances and further research. It's something I've been passionate about for a long time and this next step is coming at a time when I'm ready to do some serious thinking, writing, and playing. I can't wait to get started...
If you've made it this far, congratulations! My old method of blogging was quarterly updates, so I will probably aim to do the same as I'll have some very news and updates to share come Autumn and the start of the new academic year.
I'll leave you one of my favourite valses by Carmen Guzmán here...
Eleanor