Ben Salfield

Benjamin Dieter Salfield (born 1971) is an English lutenist, composer, teacher and promoter.

Ben Salfield was born in Barton-under-Needwood, Staffordshire, UK. His father, a German Jewish refugee, was the eminent Children's Psychiatrist Dr. Derek "Dieter" Salfield (1915-2006); his mother, a home-maker, Sandra - known as "Sally" - is still alive (b.1942). Of his siblings, the best-known is undoubtedly Jon (b.1973) who, as well as an international flamenco guitarist (the two brothers have performed together internationally in Poland and Germany) is also Head Coach of the Great Britain Sabre Team.

Salfield's family settled in Cornwall, UK, when he was 9 years old, and he has lived there ever since. He began playing lute at 13 with Ian Thomson at Truro Guitar Studios. When his teacher moved away, he was mainly self-taught. His concert début was in December 1988 at St Ives Parish Church of St Ia, and shortly after he performed for the Lute Society at the Artworkers Guild, Queens Square, London. His first international recital was at the Meschede Abteikonzerte,Cologne, Germany, in 1993, and his first full international tour – in the Czech Republic – took place three years later.

Ben Salfield received his first newspaper review in August 1989, for a performance at Truro Cathedral Chapter House. Headed "Performance of Real Perfection", the review compared him favourably to Julian Bream. Internationally, newspapers referred to him in complimentary terms, especially in Italy, Poland and Sweden; and in the UK, guitarist Nicola Hall described him in glowing terms on BBC radio as "like some modern-day Paganini". Some years later Dutch reviewer David van der Hof reprised her description, calling Ben Salfield "Cornwall's Paganini", and remarking that "it is hard to put into words exactly just how dominating a personality he is".

More recently, the world's oldest magazine for fretted instruments, BMG, said about Ben Salfield: "there can be few rivals, if any, to his explosive talent"; while Cornwall Today magazine remarked on his "huge international following".

Ben Salfield has appeared on television and radio, including on BBC World Television who included his duo's music on a DVD. He has founded and directed concert series and festivals including the Tolmen International Guitar Symposium, Constantine) (2003-2010) among them, earning critical recognition. Additionally, he has run series on behalf of other organisations, including lunchtime concerts for the Hall For Cornwall, and co-directed, with his brother Jon, the earliest music sessions at the Eden Project. He has composed music for organisations and individuals, and in December 2012 his guitar suite for Andrea Dieci, "5-4-10", was published in Poland

• "Shadoworld... and Other Tales" (1992) [PM Sound] {deleted}
• "Live... on Home Ground" (1994) [PM Sound] {deleted}
• "10 Years of Luting..." (1999) [Red C]
• "Fantasie" (2002) [Red C]
• "Into the Dark" (Due for release in 2016) [Label Unknown]

• 5-4-10 Five Preludes For Andrea Dieci by Ben Salfield. Instrument: classical guitar. Published: 2012, Modran (Poland).
• Fugue BWV 1000 by J.S. Bach. Instrument: 10-course renaissance lute. Published: 2014, Peacock Press (UK).
• Selected Solo Lute Works by S.L. Weiss. Instrument: 10-course renaissance lute. Published: 2014, Peacock Press (UK).
• A Collection of Renaissance Solos with New Divisions. Instrument: 6-course renaissance lute or guitar. Published: 2014, Peacock Press (UK).
• John Dowland: Complete Solo Galliards Instrument: 6-course renaissance lute or guitar. Published: 2015, Peacock Press (UK).
• Suite BWV 997 by J.S. Bach. Instrument: 10-course renaissance lute. Published: 2014, Peacock Press (UK).
• Prelude Fugue & Allegro BWV 998 by J.S Bach Instrument: 10-course renaissance lute. Published: 2014, Peacock Press (UK).
• Concerto in D by A.Vivaldi Instrument: 6-course lute or guitar. Published: 2015, Peacock Press (UK).

In January 2016, Peacock Press will publish Salfield's English Lute Duets of the Golden Age, "210 pages of lute duets, all playable on 6-courses, in a five-volume boxed set. The world's biggest and best collection."

In April 2016, Lightning Source will print Salfield's "The Lutenist's Handbook. A Practical Rough Guide to Playing the Lute", on behalf of Peacock Press.

Salfield has performed as a soloist, as an accompanist to singers including the "highly regarded" Lucile Clitherow, and Susan King; in duo with lutenists Denys Stephens and Michael Tyack, and his brother Jon Salfield; and in ensemble with Horsemen of the Apocalypse (featuring percussionist Simon Stanton and bass guitarist Rowan Nightingale) and Polish group, Szyman's Quartet. In August 2015 he gave four concert performances in the UK with his new duo partnership featuring Italian classical guitarist Andrea Dieci, and that November appeared in a series of concerts with him in Poland. BMG Magazine described the duo as "two of the world's finest musicians in their respective fields" Between 1988 and 2013, Salfield performed only on a 10-course lute made by luthier Philip Brown. After the instrument was rebuilt for a third time, following damage during air transit on his way to perform with Lucile Clitherow in Slovakia, he commissioned luthier Kif Wood to make him "the ultimate instrument" – a 10-course lutar – which featured brand new building techniques and materials. The lutar made its concert début at Ben Salfield's 25th Anniversary Concert at Towednack Church, St Ives in September 2013. There is no official word for someone who plays a lutar, and he continues to be described as a "lutenist".

Ben Salfield teaches privately in Cornwall. He also gives master classes abroad and has taught at summer schools in Poland, Germany and Italy. He has also appeared on juries for international guitar competitions since 1993, when he was a member of the jury that gave Italian guitarist Nicola Jappelli first prize in the Niccolo Paganini Festival, Parma, Italy. More recently, he was a jury member at Dolný Kubín, Slovakia, in 2011.

Salfield lives in Truro, Cornwall, UK. He has a partner, and two children from previous relationships who do not live with him.