Brazilian Classical Guitarist Carlos Barbosa-Lima has Died, Aged 77

A key figure in expanding the reach of classical guitar, the virtuoso passed away in São Paulo from a heart attack

Antonio Carlos Ribeiro Barbosa-Lima was born in 1944, in São Paulo, Brazil, to a pharmaceutical salesman father and homemaker mother. At age seven, with no musical training, he began playing the guitar his father was trying to learn. 

Throughout his childhood, he studied with Isaias Sávio, an Uruguayan guitar teacher who settled in Brazil in the 1930s. His mentors in later years included Spanish classical guitar master Andrés Segovi.

A child prodigy, he became a virtuoso by his teenage years. Barbosa-Lima made his professional debut at age 12, exhibiting flawless classical technique with an inventive and eclectic musical approach, according to the Washington Post. 

He spent a lifetime expanding the guitar’s possibilities, playing works ranging from Bach to the Beatles, from Gershwin to Jobim, and also adapted a large number of works for guitar.

By 1960, he was touring throughout America and Europe. After moving to the U.S., he taught at Carnegie Mellon University in the 1970s and at the Manhattan School of Music in the 1980s. 

“The guitar is so important in so many cultures,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 1992. “It’s a real people’s instrument…I think it facilitates a kind of very diverse, multicultural approach.”

Recording around 50 albums, Barbosa-Lima performed internationally, including at acclaimed venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. As reported in the New York Times, he was known for his “delicate, intricate playing,” which was due to unusual strength and flexibility of his fingers in the left hand.

He performed frequently with guitarist Larry Del Casale, with whom he made his official duo debut in 2003 at Weill Recital Hall. Their album collaborations have garnered many awards including a Latin Grammy Nomination.

“He was able to bring out and give voice to the bass, the soprano and alto lines and the melody, and give them each a different volume, a different rhythm,” Del Casale told the NY Times on remembering his duo partner. “When you’re listening to it, you think it’s two guitars.”

He is survived by his sister, Maria Christina Barbosa-Lima. Our condolences to Mr. Barbosa-Lima’s family, friends, students, and colleagues.

RUBEN FUENTES | LA BIKINA | ARR. FOR SOLO GUITAR BY CARLOS BARBOSA-LIMA | CARLOS BARBOSA-LIMA | 2010