The Baroque guitar, or ‘chitarra spagnuola’ as it was called back then, was an enormously popular instrument throughout the Baroque period, particularly in Italy, where its solo repertoire was first developed. The music of Ludovico Roncalli was the last book of music for Baroque guitar that was published in Italy, and is considered to be some of the best in the repertoire. His beautiful sonatas combine the French formal organization and dance rhythms and the Italian lyricism and intuition for harmony. Performed by Hideki Yamaya on a replica of a historical Baroque guitar strung in a historical manner, from the original text. Hideki Yamaya, based in Portland, Oregon, is a lutenist and guitarist who is actively teaching and performing all over the West Coast. He has a B.A. in Music and an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from University of California, Santa Cruz, where he studied with Robert Strizich, and an M.F.A. in Guitar and Lute Performance from University of California, Irvine, where he studied with John Schneiderman. He also studied with James Tyler at University of Southern California and with Paul Beier at Accademia Internazionale della Musica in Milan, Italy. He has had master classes with the foremost guitarists and lutenists of today, including Robert Barto, Victor Coelho, David Dolata, Ronn McFarlane, Richard Savino, Stephen Stubbs, David Tanenbaum, Scott Tennant, and Benjamin Verdery. In demand both as a soloist and as a continuo/chamber player, Hideki has performed with and for Portland Baroque Orchestra, Portland Opera, Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Baroque Northwest, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, L.A. Opera, L.A. Master Chorale, California Bach Society, and Astoria Music Festival, and is the artistic director for Musica Maestrale, an early music collective based in Portland. He is an internationally acclaimed musician and has performed in Canada, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy.