British-American classical guitarist Stanley Yates enjoys a multi-facted international career as concert performer, teacher, arranger, editor, and scholar.

He has been described as "one of an elite breed of guitarists" (Classical Guitar Magazine), praised for the "transcendent quality of his interpretations" (Fort Worth Star Telegram), recognized for his "musical instinct and brilliant technique" (Suonare, Italy).

He has been the subject of interviews, articles, and extended reviews in numerous national and international magazines and journals and is a featured artist in such publications as The Yehuda Menuhin Music Guide to the Guitar, Instrumental Influences: Reflections on the Classical Guitar from the Instrument’s Most Influential Performers and Pedagogues, and the standard reference work The Classical Guitar: Its Evolution, Players and Personalities Since 1800.

A past prize-winner in such prestigious performance competitions as the Myra Hess Young Performers Competition (London) and the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition (Los Angeles), he has performed as solo recitalist and concerto soloist throughout the United Kingdom, the United States and continental Europe, along with significant venues in East and West Asia, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Australia and South America.

A committed interpreter of new music along with neglected historical works, he has been the first performer and/or dedicatee of music by such notable composers as Stepan Rak (Czech Republic), Angelo Gilardino (Italy), John Duarte (UK), Atanas Ourkouzounov (Bulgaria), Mark Delpriora (Manhatten School of Music/Juilliard), Mark Houghton (UK), Grammy Award-winning composers Sergio and Clarice Assad (Brazil), Joao Luiz (Brazil), Elizabeth Vercoe (US), and Emmy Award-wining composer Alan Lovelady (UK). He has also been the first modern performer of important rediscovered works such as the Shand Premier Concerto, late eighteenth-century concertos by Vidal, Doisy and Viotti, and solo and chamber works by figures such as Regondi, LHoyer, Mompou, and Villa-Lobos. 

His recordings with Reference Recordings-Naxos, Heartdance Music, Zillian Records, dbMusic, Aeolian Recordings, and CGSE include his widely-acclaimed arrangements of the Bach Cello Suites; the first recording of important song cycles by John Rutter and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (with barirtone Allen Henderson); a recording of music by Lennon and McCartney, the first recording of late 18th-century Parisian concertos by Vidal, Doisy and Viotti; the first recording of Carulli's period arrangements for two guitars of music by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and Rossini (with Karl Wohlwend); a recording of the collected works of late 19th-cenurty Spanish guitarist-composer Francisco Tarrega; and a series of  didactic recordings, among others. He is also the featured guitarist in the DVD film Francisco Tarrega: Life and Music, John Bogdanovic’s highly-acclaimed DVD series Making a Concert Classical Guitar, and the Mel Bay Classical Guitar Method.

His transcription and recording of the Bach cello suites received wide international attention, being described as "immaculate...a major landmark" (Classical Guitar), "elegant and persuasive, a transcription that makes history" (Suonare) "distinguished…refreshing" (Soundboard), "compelling and technically flawless" (American Record Guide).

His numerous editions, arrangements and didactic works are published in the best-selling Stanley Yates Series with Mel Bay Publications, with Chanterelle Verlag / Schott & Co, and with his own imprint CGSE. This critically-acclaimed catalogue includes transcriptions of music by Bach, Albéniz and Vivaldi; performance editions of collected concert works by Matiegka, Rak and Shand, a series of originally-composed didactic works, a best-selling guitar method, a widely-acclaimed extensive technique treatise, and several collections of graded student repertoire.

His scholarly articles dealing with the music of Bach, Villa-Lobos, Albéniz, Sor, and others are published in ten languages. 

Described as "one of the leading pedagogues of our era" (Soundboard - Journal of the Guitar Foundation of America), he has presented masterclasses and lectures at numerous festivals, colleges, universities and conservatories, including the Royal Academy of Music London, the Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto, Glen Gould Professional School, the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, the Guitar Foundation of America, the University Federale do Rio Grande do Sur Brazil, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, and many others. He has been an artistic advisory board and Soundboard Scholar editorial board member of the Guitar Foundation of America, an editorial board member of the Journal of the European Guitar Teachers' Association, and Guitar Forum Editor for the American String Teacher's Association.

He received performance diplomas from Trinity College London and Sandown College of Performing Arts Liverpool (where he graduated with the highest pass in the history of the college) and post-graduate degrees from the University of Liverpool (with distinctions in performance and music analysis) and the University of North Texas (where he received the Morgan Dissertation Award for Excellence in Music Performance).

A resident of the United States, he is Professor of Music at Austin Peay State University, home of Tennessee's Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts. 

APSU Guitar Program

Short Bio

Performance Reviews

"one of very few musicians who, having dedicated themselves to the guitar, have managed to bring together instinct and brilliant technique with the most refined musical and musicological preparation." SUONARE (Italy)

"one of the premier exponents of 20th-century music for the classical guitar...a truly outstanding and memorable musical experience." THE ROSETTE, Orange County, California, USA

"...a master of the instrument...an experience not to be missed!" CLASSICAL GUITAR (England)

"The transcendent quality of Yates' interpretative abilities was apparent in his wide-ranging program...it is this quality that sets him apart from his peers." STAR TELEGRAM, Dallas Classic Guitar Society, USA

"Yates plays with all profundity in undisturbed communication of the music. Technical perfection, tonal purity and a considered objectivity are all perfectly placed." AZIJNFABRIEK IN MUZERIJE, Bosch Auditorium, Den Bosch, Holland

"...a performing academic of the highest caliber - one of an elite breed of guitarists whose playing is every bit as impressive as his qualifications. CLASSICAL GUITAR, Euro-Wirral International Guitar Festival of Britain

CD Reviews

"...immaculate technique...a sense of commitment and ownership rarely equaled in this repertoire....a major landmark." CLASSICAL GUITAR (England)

"..distinguished playing, a recording to hear and learn from." SOUNDBOARD (USA)

"..a very personal, compelling, and technically flawless performance..."AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE

"Listening to this interpretation it is impossible not to refer to the same transcriptions of the Suites by Yates, where he rethinks the terms in which Bach has been represented in the guitar tradition..."GUITART INTERNATIONAL (Italy)

Publication Reviews

...a transcription that makes history...since the time of Segovia's version of the Chaconne (1934) there has not been, in the history of guitar transcription, a more important event..." SUONARE (Italy)

“With this work, Stanley Yates goes beyond the traditional concept of the guitar method or the guitar technique treatise. The history of the instrument includes outstanding examples, but none that constitutes an adequate precedent to this book from the Anglo-American maestro.” Angelo Gilardino, Director Andres Segovia Foundation of Spain

"A volume of very innovative transcriptions which have a greater aesthetic affinity to the six strings than has ever been before...surpasses at great length the Albeniz of Tarrega, Llobet and Segovia (one doesn't even speak of the others).” SUONARE (Italy)

“The work of transcriber-adaptor completed by Yates reaches in this publication such graphic precision, musical exactness and good instrumental taste as to serve as the basis for a new, modern and efficacious re-reading of this repertory. For a contemporary guitarist who wishes to draw nearer to a repertory rich in satisfaction, Yates’ version appears in our opinion an unavoidable fulcrum.” IL FRONIMO (Italy)

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