Charles Ramirez

Charles Ramirez
Birth name	Charles Ramirez
Born	September 2, 1953 (age 62) Gibraltar
Genres	Classical music
Occupation(s)	Musician, Professor of Guitar at the Royal College of Music
Instruments	Classical guitar
Years active	1974–present
Associated acts	William Gomez MBE

Charles Ramirez (born 1953 in Gibraltar) is a concert guitarist based in London. He is also Professor of guitar at the Royal College of Music.

Charles Ramirez was born on 2 September 1953 in Gibraltar. He studied with William Gomez MBE (a student of Narciso Yepes) who gave him his first lessons and such was his aptitude that, just two months later, he gave his first performance live on local television (Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation). He was a regular performer on Gibraltar television and radio prior to moving to London to study.

In 1971, Charles Ramirez entered the Royal College of Music as a student, where he studied guitar with Patrick Bashford and composition with Stephen Dodgson. Whilst at college, he won the Jack Morrison guitar prize. He was the first ever guitar student at the Royal College of Music to be invited to play with the full orchestra and he gave his first performance of Rodrigo's Aranjuez Concerto in June 1973. He became an Associate of the Royal College of Music (ARCM) in April 1974. Whilst still a student of the college he gave his debut at the Purcell Room.

Ramirez was appointed Professor of Guitar at the Royal College of Music in 1978 (age 25) and also teaches in the College’s Junior Department. He was invited by Trinity College of Music to devise the syllabus for their international guitar grade examinations. This also led to the publication of his Technical Development for Guitarists that has been used by Trinity for over a decade.

Charles Ramirez organised a tribute to Segovia at the Royal College of Music in 1987 and performed alongside John Williams and Carlos Bonnell, where he played Rodrigo's 'Fantasy for a Gentleman', conducted by John Forster.

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