Gilbert Biberian was born in Istanbul of Greek/Armenian descent on 19th February 1944. He studied at Trinity College of Music, graduating in 1968. In 1965 a French Government grant took him to France to study with Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya. He later studied composition with James Patten, Elisabeth Lutyens and Hans Keller. Following a successful debut at the Wigmore Hall, he was invited to work with the London Sinfonietta and Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, the Nash Ensemble, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and many others. He has played at the Proms, at Covent Garden and has performed concertos and given solo recitals worldwide. Keenly aware of the importance of creating a new body of work for the guitar he has always enthusiastically encouraged and championed the creation of new compositions. New works have been written for and/or dedicated to him by James Patten, Elisabeth Lutyens, Reginald Smith Brindle, Betty Roe, Geoffrey Burgon, Judith Bingham and others. Gilbert Biberian was Professor of Guitar at Trinity College of Music between 1988 and 1996 where he championed the use of the guitar in chamber music.
As a composer Gilbert Biberian's ethnic roots are integral to his work. He has produced a great number of compositions, not only for solo and ensemble guitar, but also for all string instruments including a concerto for guitar, cello and 19 strings, which recieved its world premiere at the Habana International Festival of Guitar, Cuba in May 1992. In addition to his pioneering work in chamber music, and always insearch of exciting possibilities for the guitar, he expanded the role of the instrument by combining with mime in three works, “Pierrot”, “Harlequin's Toccata” and “Columbine”. Gilbert Biberian's compositions have enriched the repertoire of the instrument and have become part of the standard repertoire and are being performed widely by an ever-increasing number of guitarists.
Web: http://www.cadenza-music.demon.co.uk/biberian.htm