Thomas Viloteau is considered one of the most gifted classical guitarists of the younger
generation and not without reason. His first concert was in his home country of France only a year
after he began his studies, in front of an audience of 200 people. Since that concert, Thomas has played
in some of the best venues through out the United States of America, Canada, Mexico, Germany, the
Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Norway, Great Britain, Taiwan and Puerto Rico.
Born into a family of fine arts enthusiasts, Thomas took his first lesson at the age of
twelve. Although a late start for an internationally recognized musician, inspired by listening to
Naxos recordings of other prominent classical musicians, Thomas decided at the outset of his career
that he wanted to record such a CD too. Eager to learn as much as he could about his instrument, he
immediately went on to study at an international level, moving from Barcelona (Escola de Musica
Juan Pedro Carrero and Conservatorio Superior Municipal), to Paris (École Normale with a
scholarship from Fondation Zigmund Zaleski and CNSM) or San Francisco ( San Francisco
Conservatory of Music), seeking advice from some of the leading professors like Alvaro Pierri,
Alberto Ponce, Judicaël Perroy, Roland Dyens and Marc Teicholtz.
Equally as talented as a performer, Thomas has also proven his versatile abilities as a competitor.
Thomas has placed in numerous international competitons, taking first prize in the Segovia
Competition (Linares, Spain), Mottola (Italy), Ville d'Antony (Paris, France), Sernancelhe (Porto,
Portugal) and in 2006, only nine years after he started playing, the renown Guitar Foundation of
America International Competition which allowed him to record his first CD with the label Naxos.
Always willing to push his passion for classical guitar further, Thomas has recently finished writing a
book about the modern advanced techniques of the classical guitar. Based on his own experiments,
thoughts and those of his teachers and contemporaries, Thomas has created a tool in helping others get
to a point that he was able to accelerate to so quickly.
Thomas Viloteau only uses Savarez strings and plays since 2006 on a guitar made by the Australian
luthier Greg Smallman.
