Lee University will host internationally renowned guitarist Manuel Barrueco on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Dixon Center as a guest for Lee’s Presidential Concert Series.

During three decades of concertizing, Barrueco has performed across the US from the New World Symphony in Miami to New York’s Lincoln Center. His international tours have taken him such places as the Royal Albert Hall in London, Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Philharmonie in Berlin. He has appeared on a wide array of American television programs including “CBS Sunday Morning,” A&E’s “Breakfast with the Arts,” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” on PBS.

Barrueco, a native Cuban, began playing the guitar at eight years old and attended the Esteban Salas Conservatory in Santiago de Cuba. He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1967 as a political refugee. He later completed his advanced studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he now shares his love for music with a small group of gifted young guitarists from all over the world.

Barrueco’s career has been dedicated to bringing the guitar to the main musical centers of the world. His commitment to contemporary music and to the expansion of the guitar repertoire has led him to collaborations with many distinguished composers such as Steven Stucky, Michael Daugherty, Roberto Sierra, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky.

Barrueco’s latest album, TÁRREGA! is comprised of compositions and arrangements by Spanish composer and guitarist, Francisco Tárrega. It recently received a Latin Grammy nomination for best classical album.

Critics have hailed Barrueco as a “superior musician” (New York Times), and his performances as “consistently awesome” (Los Angeles Times). “When Barrueco plays, it speaks to the heart” (Baltimore Sun).

Tickets will be available at the Lee University Box Office in the Dixon Center, or by phone at 614-8343, one week prior to the concert between 3-6 p.m.

For more information about the performance, please call the School of Music at 614-8240. For more information on Manuel Barrueco, visit http://www.barrueco.com.