As part of our 15th anniversary celebrations, The Carleton welcomes back world-renowned guitarist Don Ross and his Spanish counterpart Pipo Romero for a 7 PM show on Sunday, May 21st. The virtuoso musicianship begins at 7 PM and tickets are $30 + HST.

Don Ross was born and raised in Montreal and has lived in various parts of Canada over the course of his life. The son of a Mi’kmaw Indigenous mother and a Scottish immigrant father, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music) degree from Toronto’s York University and started working full-time as a musician in 1988. That year he won the US National Fingerpick Guitar Championship for the first time, and also played with his quartet Eye Music at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

Concentrating his touring primarily in Canada at the start of his career, Don went on to sign with Sony Music/Columbia Records (Canada) in 1994, releasing three CDs for the label. US-based Narada Records also licensed two pieces for the Masters of Acoustic GuitarCD in 1997. Meanwhile, Don won the US National Fingerpick Guitar Championship for the second time in 1996. To this day, he is still the competition’s only two-time winner. Don began touring more internationally at this point in his career, concentrating especially on Germany and other central European countries.

In 2005, Don entered into negotiations with the internet-based label startup CandyRat Records, and became the company’s first signed artist. Together they released Don’s next recording, Music for Vacuuming, late that year. Since then, Don has released multiple CDs for the label (including collaborative titles with guitarists Andy McKee and Calum Graham) and two live concert DVDs. In addition, Don has released three other albums independently, Live in Your Head (2006), Any Colour (2009) and Don Ross Louder Than Usual (2019). Over the course of that time, Don’s touring base has gone on to include trips to Australia, India, Russia, China, South Korea, and a dozen European countries.

In 2021, Don won the prestigious Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. Don currently lives in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Pipo Romero is a composer and acoustic guitarist from Cádiz, Spain. His compositions come from the heart blending an original compendium of styles (folk, flamenco, classical, country, celtic music, tango and more).. His original and unprecedented approach to his music and his instrument has made him one of the most relevant artists in the world of acoustic guitar, and has led him to perform in numerous international forums (Spain, Canada, USA, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Korea) over the years with his first two albums.

IKIGAI is the new album of Pipo Romero that represents (as the Japanese concept itself means): the artist’s reason for being and personal motivation through his own work, a north, a sense of life. His third album, is an ode to Spanish folklore and its crossover with Atlantic folks, but composed and performed on a steel-string guitar instead of the traditional Spanish guitar. Full of colors and nuances, from the purest and most authentic roots of his land but with an open heart towards other times and cultures.