My new favourite place to frequent in my adopted home city of Bogotá, Colombia is the Cultural Centre – Julio Mario Santo Domingo, which houses both a massive library and mayor theatre. Last Saturday evening I had the good fortune of attending a recital by Colombian classical guitarist Camilo Giraldo at the Teatro Mayor. We received the above brochure/program just before the show was called to begin.
Today’s featured piece is Inspiração (Inspiration) by Brazilian composer Aníbal Augusto Sardinha (1915–1955), which Camilo performed second in the program. Since mobile phone use and recording were prohibited during the concert, I’ve shared another interpretation of the same piece by Camilo at the end of this post.
According to his biography, Camilo is a musician who stands out for his versatility in the field of composition, production, teaching and guitar performance. A graduate of ISA (Higher Institute of Arts, Havana, Cuba), where he studied composition with Leo Brouwer and Tulio Peramo, and instrumental studies with Jesús Ortega Rey Guerra and Alejandro González, he also received master classes with John Williams, Pepe Romero, Eliot Fisk, and Costas Cotsiolis, among others.
Upon completing his studies, he returned to Colombia, where he has given numerous classical guitar concerts. His work has been recognized with various incentives, such as concert series by the former IDCT (on several occasions he obtained the highest score in the professional category of academic music), and as a guitar soloist.
The composer of today’s piece – Inspiração was Aníbal Augusto Sardinha (1915–1955), better known by his stage name Garoto (“the boy”). He was a pioneering Brazilian guitarist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist whose work bridged the worlds of choro, samba, and early bossa nova. Born in São Paulo, he displayed extraordinary talent from a young age, mastering both guitar and cavaquinho before becoming a professional musician in his teens. Garoto gained national fame in the 1930s through radio performances and collaborations with leading samba and choro musicians, later performing internationally—including in the United States with Carmen Miranda’s band. Despite his early death of a heart attack at just 39, Garoto left behind a remarkable legacy, with compositions such as Inspiração, Desvairada, and Lamentos do Morro cementing his place as one of Brazil’s most important guitar innovators.
Reference:
1. Garoto (composer) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Very interesting read thanks for sharing🙏
Thanks
Gorgeous! Classical guitar is what I picked up when I was like 12 or 13. I invested a significant amount of time and pretty much practiced every day. That said, I never reached anything quite close to Camilo Giraldo’s evident mastery of the instrument!
I’m still grateful for my great guitar teacher who in addition to classical music from the get-go showed me how to play chords and fingerpicking techniques, so I could play simple pop, folk and rock songs fairly quickly. It definitely was an effective motivator to keep going with learning how to read sheet music, playing in different keys, etc. for classical guitar.
You were clearly more adept at learning classical guitar than I was. I only took a few lessons in my 30s, and I wish I’d started much earlier in my youth as you did. I also wish I had learned piano first and then guitar. I’m trying to get my 10 year-old daughter Katherine to take up the piano, but she doesn’t some seem so keen as yet.I remember you mentioning how influential and inspiring your teacher was — that’s wonderful. I hope you’re still keeping at it after all this time.
Unfortunately, I barely touch the guitar these days, so I’ve gotten really rusty. That said, I still hope I’ll be able to resume playing on a more regular basis.
Guitar playing is a lot like language learning — if you don’t practice nearly every day, you risk losing your mastery of it.
Sadly, that’s very true!
I love classical guitar. I don’t think I’ve ever heard this before. My mother would have loved it. She took classical guitar lessons, but she really didn’t have the time to devote to learning it. Her main instrument was her voice, she had a brilliant soprano.
I can take classical guitar in doses – like we did the other night – 1 hour was my max-out. Classical piano and orchestra (or other accompaniment even minimal), now that’s another story. Yes, it takes thousand of hours to master an instrument and only few have the time, obsession and patience. That’s sweet your mother was such a great singer.