Galina Vale

Flamboyant Manchester-based internationally renowned Ukrainian guitar diva Galina Vale plays a program of flamenco and classical pieces.

A child prodigy raised in a family of musicians, Galina’s performing career began at the age of eight with an appearance on Ukrainian State Television.

From the age of twelve she was performing major guitar concertos with the Kharkov Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and has won prizes at international guitar and music competitions in Poland, Italy, Hungary, Spain, and the United Kingdom, performing over 2000 concerts around the world.

Her recitals have included very technically demanding works, such as the arrangement by Japanese virtuoso guitarist Kazuhito Yamashita of The Bogatyr Gate of Kiev (from Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky), considered impossible for guitar (Goniezc Pomorsky) alongside her own arrangements of works like Rachmaninovs Prelude no.5 in G-minor and Hungarian Dance no.5 by Brahms Her repertoire has ranged from orthodox classical guitar (Sor, Mertz, Tarrega, Villa-Lobos), music from the renaissance and baroque (Galilei, Bach, Dowland, Scarlatti) through arrangements of classical instrumental,orchestral works and opera (Liszt, Paganini, Sarasate, de Falla, Gimenez, Bizet, Rossini…) the modern guitar (Walton, Dyens, Rak…) to flamenco (Escudero, Sabicas, Peña…) and arrangements of South American and East European folk music (Cardoso, Ramirez, Shevchenko…).

Her interpretation of pieces by the famous guitarist-composer tepan Rák inspired his praise before a huge audience at the Esztergom International Guitar Festival (Hungary)… finally I have found a guitarist who can perform my music! She has also starred in three music films produced by Ukrainian State Television: "Portrait with guitar ", "Strings and Sails ", " Spirit of Spain".

Her first CD The Legend was released in 1996 (under her maiden name Galina Vernigora) with the support of Gendai Guitar Foundation of Japan and Masaru Kohno. It featured on US FM radio in the network programme edition of Great Women Guitarists produced by Classical Guitar Alive in 1997 and later with the Maltese National Radio on the programme Cantabile.

Galina now lives in Manchester and continues with her career as a concert performer. .