Jens Franke

The German guitarist Jens Franke, born to an eminent musical family, trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and King’s College, London. An artist of eclectic taste, equally at home in concert room or theatre, he has worked with English National Ballet, and was formerly orchestral guitarist of the European Union Youth Orchestra, in which capacity he appeared in concert with Bernard Haitink, playing such venues as the Concertgebouw, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, and Sadler’s Wells. He has commissioned a number of new works for guitar including a theatre cycle by Òscar Colomina i Bosch setting Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies (an 18th century listing of London prostitutes), premiered by Anna Huntley during a Pit Theatre Residency at the Barbican Centre in December 2011. Recent recording credits include two EPs; eight CDs for Schott, London, associated with a series of Romantic and Baroque anthologies; an album of music by Johann Kaspar Mertz (Stone Records); and, together with his guitar duet partner Jørgen Skogmo, the complete ensemble works of Antoine de Lhoyer (Naxos).