Francis Perry

Biography

Francis Perry began playing the guitar at the age of six, and his lifelong love of the instrument has provided the foundation for his career as a performer and teacher.

As a classical guitarist, and specialist on the Renaissance and Baroque lutes, he has appeared at colleges and music festivals in the United States, Italy, and Spain. Along with his duo partner, Timothy Broege, Mr. Perry was a featured performer at the American Recorder Society's concert series at the Boston Early Music Festival. He holds a Bachelor's degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Rutgers University, both in Guitar Performance.

Legendary Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia wrote that Francis Perry is “an excellent guitarist,” after hearing him play in a rare private session while Mr. Perry was Artist-in-Residence at Duke University.

A program of his playing has been broadcast nationally on PBS, and he appeared as a lute player in the CBS network mini-series "Double Take".

Having served on the music faculties at Fairleigh Dickinson, Kean, and Monmouth Universities in New Jersey, Mr. Perry has taught at Belmont since 2010. SOUNDBOARD magazine, the international classical guitar journal, recently published his article "A Recipe For Learning A New Piece of Music."

Francis Perry is co-founder and Artistic Director of the ensemble Early Music City. He is also co-founder and Artistic Director of The Nashville Early Music Festival. The inaugural event in 2015 was so well-received that plans are underway for the festival to become a biennial feature of the city’s cultural landscape.