Raphaël Feuillâtre, guitar
Raphaël Feuillâtre returns to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society after his acclaimed 2024 debut, presenting a wide-ranging solo guitar program that travels from Spain and Italy to Latin America and Brazil. His playing is marked by exceptional expressivity, virtuosity, and command of the instrument, bringing together familiar works and less commonly heard repertoire.
The program includes music by Tárrega, Albéniz, Solés, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Scarlatti, Barrios, Lauro, Brouwer, Sérgio Assad, Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla, and Thierry T. Dyens. Feuillâtre is a prizewinner of numerous international guitar competitions, a Deutsche Grammophon exclusive artist, and one of the leading classical guitarists of his generation.
When: Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Venue: American Philosophical Society, Benjamin Franklin Hall, 427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
Tickets: Sold out. To join the waitlist, call 215-569-8080 or email boxoffice@pcmsconcerts.org. Ticket prices are not listed.
Artist: Raphaël Feuillâtre, guitar
Program: The concert, titled “Latin Passions,” features Tárrega’s “Caprice arabe,” Prelude No. 18 in D major (“Lágrima”), and “Recuerdos de la Alhambra”; Albéniz’s “Torre Bermeja” and “Asturias: Leyenda,” both arranged for guitar; Solés’s “El Testament d’Amelia”; Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s “El sueño de la razón produce monstruos” and “Capriccio Diabolico,” Op. 85; Scarlatti’s “Presto” from Sonata in D major, K. 492; Barrios’s “Mazurka Appassionata”; Lauro’s “Valse No. 3” and “Anna Florencia (Canción de Cuna)”; Brouwer’s “La Huida de los Amantes por el Valle de Los Enamorados”; Sérgio Assad’s “Cateretê” from *Suite Brasileira*, No. 4; selected movements from Villa-Lobos’s *Suite Populares Brésilienne* and his Etude No. 12; Piazzolla’s “Invierno Porteño,” arranged for guitar; and Dyens’s “Fuoco.”
Run time: Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, including intermission.
Series: This concert is part of PCMS’s Social Series.
Social Series benefit: The concert includes access to a free tasting paired with the performance.
Livestream: A livestreamed version is available through the event page’s video player. Livestream viewing is offered on a pay-what-you-wish basis, with donations supporting PCMS’s concert broadcasts.
About the artist: Feuillâtre won the Guitar Foundation of America competition in 2018 and was named ADAMI’s Classical Revelation in 2021. Deutsche Grammophon signed him as an exclusive artist in 2022, making him one of the few guitarists represented by the label. His releases include the single “Les Barricades Mystérieuses” and the 2023 debut album *Visages Baroques*, which explores different aspects of Baroque music.
Career background: Following his 2023 Carnegie Hall debut, Feuillâtre has appeared at venues and festivals including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Folle Journée in Nantes, Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, the Festival International de Guitare de Paris, Argentina’s Festival Guitarras del Mundo, and the Changsha International Guitar Festival in China. His chamber-music collaborations have included recorder player Lucie Horsch, trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary, and violinist Maria Dueñas.
Biography: Born in Djibouti in 1996, Feuillâtre began studying guitar with Hacène Addadi, continued with Michel Grizard at the Conservatoire de Nantes, and entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in 2015, where he studied with Roland Dyens and Tristan Manoukian. He was also mentored by Judicaël Perroy. His other competition victories include the José Tomás International Guitar Competition in Spain, the Kutná Hora International Guitar Festival in the Czech Republic, the Viseu International Spring Music Festival in Portugal, the Fontenay-sous-Bois Guitar Competition and Festival in France, and the Ciudad de Coria International Guitar Festival in Spain.
Teaching and outreach: Feuillâtre teaches at the Pôle Supérieur de Bretagne and co-founded the Lille Guitar Academy, a summer program for guitarists. He has led masterclasses at the San Francisco Conservatory, the Manhattan School in New York, and the Haute École de Musique in Geneva, and has participated in arts-education projects in schools and prisons.
Instrument: Feuillâtre plays a guitar made by Australian luthier Greg Smallman and is supported by Savarez, the historic string manufacturer founded in 1770.