Grisha Goryachev

Grigory "Grisha" Goryachev (Russian: Гриша Горячев) (born December 29, 1977 in St. Petersburg) is a Russian virtuoso flamenco and classical guitarist now living in the United States. A master of both flamenco and classical guitar, he is one of the world's few guitarists to continue the traditions of solo flamenco in concert performances. He is heavily influenced by Paco de Lucía and Sabicas. Goryachev is technically a highly proficient player, testament to his background in classical guitar from a very young age.

A native of St. Petersburg, Goryachev began to play the guitar at the age of six, taught by his father Dmitry, a master teacher and player of the classical guitar and learned quickly. He was a child prodigy, performing regularly in the top concert halls of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Minsk, Riga and other cities in the Soviet Union from the age of nine, receiving wide coverage in Soviet magazines and newspapers. His father was able to obtain copies of flamenco recordings of flamenco greats such as Juan Martín and Sabicas, attracting his interest from an early age. But access was limited; Goryachev has said, "I had very bad access to recordings. Most of what I used to pick up were pirates." Goryachev has said of his allurement to flamenco, "It was everything: the sound of the guitar, the rhythms. It's hard not to be moved by this music. It moves me so much that I want to cry." He performed as a child on Soviet radio and television and participated in the TV marathon, Revival of St. Petersburg, broadcast across the world. In 1986 he saw Paco de Lucía at a concert in Russia at the peak of his career which he says "blew his mind" and was "absolutely amazing"; it was a massive influence on him and a turning point in his life. From this point he concentrated on learning flamenco, helped by his father, transcribing many unpublished pieces completely by ear as he listened to recordings. He learned to play flamenco purely by listening to recordings of the masters, professing never to have learned from tablature in his life. His tremolo picking was initially poor, but on the advice of his father he practiced it slowly for two years, after which he was able to play proficiently. He was driven to play like his newfound hero, and would play along with the recordings, attempting to match the pace of de Lucia's picados. His initial study into flamenco covered the works of Juan Martín, and he performed these in concert while still a boy.

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