By Todd Carlsen

Grammy-nominated guitarist Manuel Barrueco will perform with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra at 8 p.m. Friday, March 28 at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie. Barrueco is one of the most significant guitarists of our time, and the Los Angeles Times has called his performances “simply and consistently awesome.”Manuel Barrueco: Photo courtesy SPCO

Tickets for the Barrueco concert are $25 and $10 for adults, and $5 for kids. Purchase tickets at www.thespco.org and click on March 28 on the calendar.

Barrueco was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for his critically-acclaimed album Solo Piazollo, and he received a 2006 Latin Grammy Award nomination for his superb album Concierto Barroco.

The concert will emphasize Baroque era works, including Johann Sebastian Bach’s famous Brandenburg Concerto #1, a suite by Georg Philipp Telemann, and Antonio Vivaldi’s splendid Guitar Concerto in D.

Vivaldi, known as the Red Priest because of his red hair, originally wrote the Concerto in D for the lute, but it has become one of the most famous classical music works for guitar. The piece begins with a tuneful and energetic first movement, with the guitarist alternating between guitar licks and arpeggio playing with the orchestra. The arresting second movement is a slow, wistful guitar solo you have probably heard.

Barrueco and the SPCO will also perform the Spanish-flavored Folías for Guitar and Orchestra by Roberto Sierra – an especially interesting work for a chamber orchestra. Sierra, who won an Academy Award in Music, composed the work for Barrueco in 2002. It has a cascade of virtuoso guitar playing and a rhythmic melody based on 16th-Century Spanish harmony progressions called Folías. As the music soars higher and higher, you can almost imagine a Spanish dancer moving to the rhythm of the music.

Guest conductor Paul Goodwin will direct the orchestra. Goodwin has received recognition for several achievements, but lately he is best known for his work with the Academy of Ancient Music at the University of Cambridge in England, which performs with period-instruments in the original historical style.

A versatile guitarist, Barrueco has collaborated with many other prominent musicians, including legendary tenor Plácido Domingo and Andy Summers of the Police. He has appeared on several television shows, including Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and Barrueco even was featured in a Lexus commercial. Born in Cuba, Barrueco and his family immigrated to the United States in 1967 as political refugees, according to his Web site.

He teaches select classes at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and a documentary about his life was aired on PBS stations.

Eden Prairie resident Todd Carlsen is a music enthusiast and SPCO season ticket subscriber.