Carlos Bonell’s distinguished career includes TV, film and CD recordings, worldwide tours and concertos with the major orchestras. He can be heard on the sound tracks of the Hollywood films ‘City of Angels’ and ‘The Honest Courtesan’ and on the BBC TV productions ‘Inspector Morse’ and ‘The Politician’s Wife’.

Carlos Bonell was born in London of Spanish parents and studied at the Royal College of Music with John Williams where he was appointed the youngest ever professor there in 1972. He gained prominence in 1981 through his recording for Decca of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Charles Dutoit. It was hailed as a “magnificent triumph” by Classical Music Magazine, UK, and awarded a coveted rosette by the Penguin CD guide. Since that time it has been repeatedly singled out as the finest version available.

In addition to his Decca recordings, Carlos Bonell has recorded for EMI, ASV, CBS and Upbeat Classics. At the beginning of his recording career his 1976 CBS recording with John Williams and Friends received a Grammy nomination, while his 1998 solo CD release The Private Collection was described as “a masterclass in magic” by the BBC Music Magazine. His 1997 CD The Sea in Spring was chosen as Pick of the Week by Classic FM. The 2000 CD Kinkachoo, I love you - Millennium Guitar, the first 1000 years is a unique musical journey through 1000 years of musical history, and premières a number of works. His DVD Classical Guitar performance released in 2005 contains a one hour live performance with spoken introductions in English and Spanish by Carlos himself. It has met with universal acclaim.

Carlos Bonell has formed musical associations with a wide variety of musicians including guitarist John Williams, flamenco guitarists Paco Peña and Juan Martín, jazz guitarist Martin Taylor, violinists Salvatore Accardo, Pinchas Zukerman and Levon Chilingirian, and singers Patricia Rozario, Teresa Berganza, Cleo Laine and Philip Langridge.

His concert tours extend to many parts of the world including most European capitals as well as the United States, Israel, and South Africa. During the 1980s he formed his own ensemble, the Carlos Bonell Ensemble, which includes some of Britain’s finest musicians. The Ensemble, which has toured in more than 20 countries, is widely regarded as the most innovative and entertaining guitar-based ensemble in the world today. Carlos has appeared regularly with all the major British orchestras and at many international Festivals including The City of London, Aldeburgh, Helsinki, Israel, Tanglewood, Sydney, Istanbul, Hong Kong and New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival. Since 2000, Carlos’s concert schedule has expanded to include regular tours of Australia, the Far East and South America

Carlos Bonell’s programmes reflect a wide musical interest beyond Spanish music. His association with various composers, and interest in contemporary music has led to programmes, which include music by Barrington (“Inspector Morse” music) Pheloung, the late Stephen Oliver (who composed a guitar sonata for him), Ottavio Négro, Armand Coeck, and John Tavener. His specially devised programmes including “Millennium Guitar: the first 1000 years” and “Mystery, Myth and Magic” have proved very popular around the world.

He is also greatly in demand as an outstanding teacher. Every year he conducts international teaching courses in Italy, Spain, the UK and Venezuela, as well as masterclasses during many of his concert tours.

A performance highlight of 2005 was the London International Guitar Festival (of which he is the Artistic Director) where he performed concerts with John Williams and the Chamber Ensemble of London, as well as teaching and lecturing.

The first book about the guitar by Carlos: Guitar - An Easy Guide was published in April 2005 by New Holland Publishing and contains an introduction to playing, a brief history of the acoustic guitar, and a recommended listening guide.

Current plans include the world premières of works specially composed for Carlos by the Australian composer Phillip Houghton and by the Venezuelan composer Elvis Suarez. These works will appear in a new publishing venture: the Carlos Bonell Edition for Berben Music Publishers, which focuses on new music for guitar.

Future plans include an extended tour of the USA , as well as concerts throughout the UK, Europe and Japan.