In October 1981, at age 17, Paul Galbraith took part in the 1st Segovia International Guitar Competition, in Kent, England; he was the youngest of 50 competitors from 14 countries. Paul was awarded silver medal by a Jury presided over by Segovia himself. “Paul is magnificent. He will be a great artist”, was Segovia’s comment to the press after the competition. As a result of this success, Paul performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London with the English Chamber Orchestra.

This event launched Paul’s solo career nationally and his reputation as a leading talent spread rapidly through further TV appearances, radio broadcasts, recitals and concerto performances at some of the most prestigious halls in the UK. He was a regular guest soloist with major UK orchestras. While continuing to concertize, expanding to European tours, Paul began studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in September 1982, graduating four years later. “He is the best guitarist of his generation”, affirmed “Classical Guitar” magazine, after Paul’s performance at the 1983 Esztergom International Guitar Festival, in Hungary.

His continuing quest to overcome the guitar’s technical limitations led Paul to develop a new instrument, which would better correspond to musical needs. Wishing to play the lute works of Dowland and Bach in their original versions, as well as transcriptions of a wide range of music including Brahms, whose Op.21 Variations he was working on at the time, he conceived the idea of a guitar with two extra strings surrounding the traditional six – one lower and one higher. For this exciting new venture, Paul collaborated with the renowned English luthier, David Rubio. Rubio’s extended work on the eight string ‘Brahms Guitar’ (as Rubio subsequently named the new instrument, due to his surprise at how ‘Brahmsian’ the Op.21 Variations sounded to him on this guitar) first came to fruition in the form of a ‘prototype’, completed during the last days of 1993.

Paul continues to perform with major orchestras and ensembles in Britain and Europe, such as: the BBC Orchestras, the Royal Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Halle, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the European Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Chile and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Paul has further guested with leading ensembles, such as the St Petersburg Quartet (on tour) and the Shanghai Quartet.