HUGUES NAVEZ

 

Classical Guitar

Belgium

Born in Brussels, the Belgian guitarist Hugues Navez is one of the rare performers to play a ten-string guitar.

Trained at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Lille (France) by Jean-Philippe GRUNEISSEN, at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles (Royal Conservatory of Brussels) by Ilse and Nicolas ALFONSO as well as at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris by Alexandre LAGOYA (of whom he is the only Belgian pupil) and Carel HARMS, he was awarded the highest distinctions and holds numerous prizes, diplomas and master’s degrees : guitar, musical theory, chamber music, musical analysis, pedagogy…

He also attended the master classes of Leo Brouwer, Sharon Isbin, Costas Cotsiolis, Ichiro Suzuki, Kai Nieminen, Ako Ito, Henri Dorigny, Peter McCutcheon, Fritz Buss and Konrad Junghänel.

He is a Laureate of the Belgian Government Prize-Medal, the «Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now» (Menuhin Foundation), the European Union Prize « Émile Noël » (awarded for the first and only time to an artist) and the Royal Conservatory of Brussels Heritage Commission Prize « Frères Darche ».

He gives numerous concerts, recitals and master classes around the world, takes part in various radio and television broadcasts and is frequently invited to be a member of the jury for major competitions.

He collaborates with prestigious partners : the violinist Lola Bobesco ; the flautists Maxence Larrieu, Marc Grauwels and Denis-Pierre Gustin ; the actors Suzanne Philippe, Raoul de Manez and Charles Kleinberg ; the harpist Susanna Mildonian, the Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestras (RTBF – conducted by André Vandernoot – and BRT), the Belgian National Orchestra (conducted by Dirk Brossé), the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Foster (Festival du Jeune Soliste), the String Quartet of the Opera Royal de la Monnaie, the Momentum String Quartet, the Orchestre de Chambre National de Toulouse, the American-Swiss dance company Dance Music Light, the baritone Richard Rittelmann…

As a highly valued pedagogue, he gives many master classes during his tours and for the European Erasmus Exchange Program : the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the Beijing Central Conservatory, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, the Conservatories of Shanghai, Dakar, Budapest, Alessandria, Klagenfurt, the École Britten in France...

Since 1999 Hugues Navez has been the full Professor of the classical guitar class and head of the Guitar Department at the « Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles – École Supérieure des Arts » (Royal Conservatory of Brussels).

He is the President of the  « Classical Guitar Society of Belgium » , the « Brussels Classical Guitar Society » and the « Brussels Guitar Concerts ».

Every summer and winter he is the Professor at the « Brussels Guitar Master Classes ».

Since 2012 Hugues Navez is the Founder President and the Artistic Director of the « Brussels International Guitar Festival & Competition » the unique annual event devoted to the guitar in the capital of Europe.

To date he has recorded 5 CDs, plays a Dieter Hopf Guitar and is a Savarez strings artist.