Musician Josh Searles, originally from Ontario’s Georgian Bay and now based in Roberts Creek, is on a mission to build a classical guitar community on the Sunshine Coast.
The electronic music producer, recording artist, and touring performer is set to return to Eric Cardinal Hall in Gibsons on Feb. 22 for a full-length solo concert. His previous performances at the venue last year sold out quickly.
“It’s such an intimate instrument that presenting it in an intimate setting makes sense,” Searles said. He holds a master’s degree in classical guitar performance from Spain’s University of Alicante, though his studies were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
With more than two decades of experience composing, scoring films, recording, and DJing electronic music, Searles is currently working on an avant-garde album that blends classical guitar with rich electronica, mixed in 7.4-channel Dolby spatial sound.
Despite his deep commitment to classical guitar, he acknowledges that it remains a niche instrument. “Either you’re really, really in, or it doesn’t matter to you,” he noted. “Here on the Sunshine Coast, a small community of classical guitarists is emerging.” The region is also home to acclaimed Brazilian guitarist-percussionist Celso Machado, with whom Searles has collaborated, as well as professional luthier Martin Blackwell, considered one of Canada’s top instrument builders.
“We’re gradually drawing people out and bringing attention to what the guitar can do,” Searles said. “I don’t think many realize how cool classical guitar has become over the past 20 years. More composers are writing for the instrument, and there are more guitars than ever.”
Searles teaches a handful of students and is considering launching a series of workshops. However, he believes that live performances—by local or visiting artists—will be the biggest driver of interest. He recalled how one of his teenage students, who had played electric and acoustic guitars for years, had a revelation when introduced to classical repertoire. “It’s been incredible to watch,” Searles said. “He sent me a classical guitar video at around 5 a.m. the other day… and this is a 16-year-old kid, right?”
Searles’s musical background is deeply rooted in classical traditions. He studied French horn and piano as a child and spent 12 years as a ballet dancer, ultimately attending Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto. While his upcoming Gibsons performance will be an unamplified solo event, it will feature an element of visual flair—lighting will come from a collection of electrically-lit candelabras curated by his partner, leather and textile artist Ocean Wilson.
The first half of the Feb. 22 program will explore classical guitar works from warm climates, featuring compositions by Andrew York (California), as well as composers from South America and Spain, including tango master Astor Piazzolla of Argentina. “We need warm sounds and warm vibes in a cold February,” Searles remarked.
The second half of the concert will focus on Spanish repertoire, highlighting one of Searles’s favorite guitarists of the 19th and 20th centuries, Regino Sáinz de la Maza. For a time, Sáinz de la Maza lived in the same Madrid house as his brother Eduardo—also a renowned guitar composer—and surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. “Imagine the creative energy in that house,” Searles mused. “Dalí painting his melting clocks in one room while, in another, this composer is crafting incredible music. It gives me shivers to think about.”
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