Yury Nugmanov is from Moscow. He holds a degree from the Gnessin Institute of Music. He is one of Russia’s foremost classical guitarists, and has been heard throughout Russia, both as soloist and as part of many ensembles.

Mr. Nugmanov has performed with some of Russia’s top classical artists, including many singers from the famed Bolshoi Theatre. Mr. Nugmanov has premiered solo guitar works of numerous composers, including Nikita Koshkin and has also transcribed many works of great composers (including Mozart and Tchaikovsky) for solo guitar. His repertoire encompasses a wide variety of musical styles, from Renaissance to contemporary compositions. He may be heard on many recordings, in both solo and ensemble repertoire.

He was a soloist at the famous concert series at Sotheby’s in London, and has also appeared in concert in Spain. Mr. Nugmanov made his American debut in January 2002 as soloist with the Indian River Pops Orchestra. Mr. Nugmanov appeared in the San Francisco area during March 2003, where under the sponsorship of Pacifica Performances, he presented 3 solo recitals.

During the 2004 season the artist appeared in concert at the Ft. Pierce Jazz Society, in performance at the Eissey Theatre and other locations in Florida. He gave 3 solo performances in the San Francisco/ Sacramento area and was also heard in concert in Linville, NC.

During the 2004/05 season, Mr. Nugmanov appeared with the National Orchestra of Russia, in Moscow and Tokyo, playing in the premiere of the “Lord of the Rings Symphony”. He also appeared on numerous concert series in Florida and in California in both the San Francisco and Marysville/Grass Valley areas.

The versatile talent of this guitarist allows him to collaborate with masters of jazz and blues as well as to perform with the leading artists in the sphere of classical music. Yury Nugmanov frequently collaborates with The National Philharmonic of Russia (Artistic Director Vadimir Spivakov) performing at international festivals and playing solo guitar during the orchestra’s appearances in Moscow.

In October 2008, Mr. Nugmanov was soloist in the Russian premiere of Ernesto Cordero’s “Concierto Antillano”. This concerto was played with The National Philharmonic of Russia. Maestro Ernesto Cordero visited Moscow for the premiere, and at the conclusion of this outstanding performance gave to Mr. Nugmanov a memorable present – an original Puerto Rican decachord guitar, which is a national modification of the musical instrument. After the concert, Mr. Cordero made this statement:

“THE PREMIERE OF CONCIERTO ANTILLANO IN THE TCHAIKOVSKY HALL WAS FULL OF MAGIC. YURY’S NUGMANOV’S DRAMATIC STRENGTH, BIG SOUND, AND VIRTUOSITY MAKE HIM A PERFECT INTERPRETER OF THIS CARIBBEAN CONCERTO. THE RUSSIA NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA WAS SUPERB UNDER THE BATON OF ANDREY DANILOV”.

ERNESTO CORDERO, COMPOSER

In summer 2009, in the Svetlanovskiy Hall of the Moscow International Music Center and in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Mr. Nugmanov was soloist in two more Russian premiers. These were “Romancero Gitano”, a cantata for chorus and guitar by Italian composer M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco with lyrics by Federico Garcia Lorca (performed by the State Symphonic Chorus under the leadership of Valeriy Polianskiy) and “God Is Our Righteousness” (for guitar and pipe organ) by American composer Chris deBlasio.

In December of 2009 Yury Nugmanov presented several programs in leading Moscow concert halls: “Russian Music for Classical Guitar” in Moscow Philharmonic Hall, “Guitar from Spain to Russia” in the Moscow Conservatory, “Latin-American Music for Guitar” in the Moscow International Music Center.

During the season 2009-2010 Yury Nugmanov was the Artistic Director of the guitar music concert series in the Moscow International Music Center.

On December 11, 2010, Mr. Nugmanov made his Carnegie Hall debut. The highly successful program included 14 pieces in many styles. The audience demanded many encores from this exciting artist. He was the first Russian guitarist to play in recital in Carnegie Hall.

Yury Nugmanov is a pioneer in the performance of music for guitar in Russia. Partly as a result of his efforts, the guitar is coming to be respected as a solo instrument in the Russian musical world, rather than solely as an instrument for accompaniment. His transcriptions of music for other instruments, or even for orchestra, have added a new dimension to the repertoire of music for solo guitar, and have created renewed interest in this instrument.

As a first class guitarist, Yury Nugmanov has a multidimensional and varied repertoire. Despite being in great demand abroad, Nugmanov still performs many different programs in Russia, in the central music halls of such cities as St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Chisinau, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Saratov, Samara, Ryazan and other.

Newspaper Reviews

“Nugmanov is one of the best guitarists of recent days, having a broad repertoire including classical and jazz. In the “Concierto Antillano” by Ernesto Cordero, the sound of his six-string guitar embodied the variety of folkmusic contained in this concerto. Nugmanov’s guitar just entranced the listeners. And in his own composition, “Fantasy on a Theme of Chick Corea”, which he played as an encore, his guitar amazed with a symphonic swing, beauty of sound and deep timbre”

Newspaper “Novye Izvestia” 23.X.2008

“The Russian premier of the exotic and unique “Concierto Antillano” by Ernesto Cordero was the highlight of the show. The best Russian and one of the best worldwide classical guitarists, Yury Nugmanov, was the soloist. His perfect technique and bright playing may cause jealousy among even the best Spanish guitarists. And the public really felt that they had listened to a first class musician!”

“Newspaper “Itogi” 20.X.2008



(From a review of the Carnegie Hall concert, December 2010)

After the concert a friend encouraged me to agree that Nugmanov was the best guitarist ever….Nugmanov is near the top of that galaxy”.

George Schindler-New Jersey Guitar Society