James Kalal

Guitarist, Author, Recording Artist, Entertainer, Lutenist



“James Kalal is a distinguished and brilliant classical guitarist”- M.J. Albacete, Music Critic, Canton Repository



To discover a guitarist who can win such praise for his command of the classics is rare; to discover a performer winning the same acclaim for his fresh and unique interpretation of today's music, is truly exceptional.

The career of E. James Kalal is exceptional. His multifaceted talent flows into many dimensions of music. The Akron Beacon Journal wrote a cover story about James Kalal with the caption of  “A Musician who is more than the sum of his music”. James Kalal has a global following of appreciative aficionados who enjoy and love his many diverse recordings.

Mel Bay Publishing of St. Louis, Missouri, world renowned for high-tech digital innovations in publishing (video, CD ROM, etc.) commissioned Kalal as an author to write companion scores to his recordings for international distribution. To date, Kalal has authorship of the following books: A Renaissance Christmas (Original Title: Christmas Music for the Guitar from the 16th & 17th Centuries), Melodies of Spain for Acoustic Guitar, and Yuletide Gathering.

He has serenaded listeners in romantic respites along the loose path of the fabled Orient Express. His melodies of the Occidental journey evokes images ranging from whirling dervishes of Istanbul to the Romantic Road of Germany.

He has enchanted listeners in the English Cotswolds (Lygon Arms, Broadway, UK) the charming Goldener Hirsch setting for the film Sound of Music/Salzburg, Austria; the legendary Harry's/Venice, Italy; the Ancient San Francisco Parador/Granada, Spain. 

James Kalal's performing venue's in France included three contrasting regions: the Rhone-Alps: L' Abbaye de Talloires, a 9th century monastery (now hotel) in the French historic village of Talloires on Lac d'Annecy; the Cote d' Azur, the quaint fishing village of Giens on the Mediterranean Sea; Province at Saint Remy, Hotel Domaine De Valmouriani.

On the 25th of February, James Kalal will perform at the Menendez Festival in St. Augustine, Florida, attended by Juan Carlos and his wife Sofia, the King and Queen of Spain.

Sylvia Kalal

Performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, world-class celebrity artists and at the First World Guitar Congress

Sylvia was born and raised in Slovakia (former Czechoslovakia). Her early studies were on classical guitar. She has studied with Vladimir Tomcanyi and Alois Mensik. Sylvia has earned a performance diploma in classical guitar from the State Conservatory of Music in Bratislava, Slovakia in 1996. In 1997, she was awarded a full scholarship to study jazz at Tri-C (Cleveland, Ohio) under the direction of Lee Bush and Ernie Krivda.

Sylvia Kalal has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra on guitar, banjo and mandolin, also with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Cleveland Jazz  Orchestra, world renowned bassist Rufus Reid and the famous Pop singer/recording artist Lou Rawls.  

She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Cleveland State University completing a jazz syllabus under the tutelage of veteran guitarist Robert W. Fraser. In 2004, Sylvia attended the First World Guitar Congress in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was given the distinction of performing on stage with the legendary jazz guitarist Howard Alden.

Venues for 2006 have included a special concert performance at the Cloister, Sea Island, Georgia on Easter Sunday, April 16th. Sylvia performed works of renaissance and baroque composers on the baroque lute for this program. She and Jim will be performing a Renaissance Christmas concert at the Jekyll Island Club on the 21st of December, and at the Cloister on Christmas Eve for the Yule Log Ceremony.  

Sylvia and Jim have released a new CD titled "Guitar Greats In Concert" featuring some of this beautiful music.

She has accepted a commission to arrange and perform: "The Nutcracker Suite" by P. I. Tchaikovsky and other favorites for a new Kalal Christmas 2007 release.

Currently, Jim & Sylvia are working on a special CD vignette entitled, "Afternoon Tea At The Greenbrier." This includes a specially arranged recording of the Pachelbel "Canon."