The Intersection of Craftsmanship, Friendship, and Performance: Gaspar De Holanda on Guitar, Innovation, and Visual Storytelling
- WOMCO
- Jun 19
- 2 min read
Gaspar De Holanda achieved remarkable success at the 2025 Season 2 World Classical Music Awards, earning multiple top honors across various categories. In particular, his music video Probando guitarras de Antonio Cruzado received Platinum Prizes in the Music Video category, along with the Visionary Innovation Special Award and the Beeffie Creative Musical Artist Award.
Could you share the inspiration behind and the overall concept of your music video Probando guitarras de Antonio Cruzado? Is there a story behind it?
The inspiration behind the video “Probando guitarras de Antonio Cruzado” (checking out Antonio Cruzado guitars) is all about friendship. Antonio Cruzado is a very talented luthier, his workshop is close to my hometown Huelva, Spain. I always wanted to record a guitar music video inside a luthiers workshop because guitars are born there and surrounded by all those woods, finished and unfinished guitars I thought the sound would be very special. So I discussed this idea with my close friends Diego Encinas (who recorded more of my videos and cd and promo pictures) and my friend Fran Báñez, the sound engineer of most of my recordings. Due to our friendship and this original spot we thought the video would be great fun and could have a great result.
What was the production process like, and how did you aim to connect the music with the visual imagery?
I recorded the music piece several times and with different camara angles so it would be easier for the camara man to adjust all the images with the sound. For the special touch he used the Ghibli vibes. As we recorded the entire pie e several times it was quite easy for the camera and sound engineers to adjust all images with the sound as I did play it from A until Z trying to do exactly the same.
Would you like to share your experience participating in our competition?
I loved participating in your competition, easy to apply and several categories to choose. And of course it was a great experience and promotion for my music because of the two platinum prizes and the other two special Awards.
Biography
Gaspar De Holanda studied classical and flamenco guitar at the Rotterdam Conservatoire with Julián B. Coco, John Fillmore, and Paco Peña, and later in Spain with great masters such as Gerardo Núñez, Tomatito, Antonio Rey, and Manolo Sanlúcar. He was prize winner twice at the Dutch Guitar Championships and has in guitar/soloist contests in Moscow, Madrid, Quebec, London, Germany, and won various awards in the United States of America. He recently won the Intercontinental Music Awards (Flamenco Category) 2024.
In 2021, his first solo album, Quejíos, was the most streamed CD of flamenco guitar in Spotify and his latest album "Encuentros Flamenc@s" was listed among the top 10 of the best flamenco albums 2023 in Expoflamenco, the union of flamenco critics and journalists. He is now preparing his third solo album.
Gaspar has toured all over the world in guitar and flamenco festivals as a soloist, guitar duo or accompanying famous flamenco singers and dancers. He worked as a guitar teacher at the music schools of San Juan del Puerto, Lepe and Huelva.
Discover more about Gaspar: https://www.gaspardeholanda.com/
