 Ana Espinosa Rodriguez is a Spanish luthier in Granada, and builds classical and flamenco guitars. Born in Tíjola, Almeria, in 1960 from an early age she was exposed to woodcrafts, as her grandfather was a cabinet maker, and her parents worked in his workshop. Attending university, she majored in geography and history. After her B.A., she studied fine arts at the Escuela de Arte de Granada, becoming a weaver.
In 1989 she married René Baarslag, a Dutch guitar maker who came to Granada in 1977, and apprenticed with Antonio Marin Montero. In Ana began her apprenticeship with René in 1994. Under his guidance, Ana has become a excellent luthier in her own right, and sells her guitars under her own name. Her fine handmade classical guitars are patterned after those of Antonio Torres (1817-1892), the Spanish luthier whose instruments defined modern standards. Although Ana Espinosa's concert guitars are small bodied instruments, they possess very good volume, a Torres type of sound, and serve beautifully for recording. Her classical instruments are simply enchanting, everyone who plays them is reluctant to put them down. |
