Guitar News

August 2009 - Bert Kwakkel gave a lecture at the first York Guitar Festival. Gary Ryan (Professor of Guitar at the Royal College of Music) and Wendy Jackson (Head of Guitar at Chetham's School, Manchester) gave master classes.

May 2009 - Bert Kwakkel gave a lecture about guitar making in the Erasmus Huis in Jakarta (Indonesia). It was for the first time in Indonesia a lecture like this was given.

January 2009 - The German guitarist Reinhold Westerheide (living in the Netherlands) and percussionist Afra Mussawisade recorded a wonderful CD named 'Finding Anderland'. Reinhold Westerheide plays a Bert Kwakkel concert guitar type Merula with spruce top, built in 1999.

December 2008 - Leong Yee Hoo is the first guitarist in Malaysia who owns a Bert Kwakkel Concert Giutar (type Merula). He came to the Netherlands to collect his instrument.

November 2008 - The Dutch Guitar Duo Duolisme launched their new album 'Dreams, rest and motion'. The recording contains a collection of Latin-American music written for guitar duo and brings together some of the most beautiful pieces from Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. Frank Lamm and Peter Thissen play a Merula with spruce top (2006).

January 2013 - Bert Kwakkel went to Hamburg to collect wonderful African Blackwood (Grenadille). Since 2006 he makes a lot of guitars with neck and finger board out of one piece of this wood.

May 2008 - The first week of May Bert Kwakkel stayed for a few days in Austria to collect the most wonderful spruce tops for his guitars. Extremely precise selection work was preceded.

May 2007 - Bert Kwakkel gives his guitars bird-names because of the great interest he takes in birds. An exciting lecture on little owls resulted in his taking part as a volunteer to help stablilise the little owl population. Almost every day, from his workshop, he can see a little owl in his garden.

August 2006 - Bert Kwakkel joined the Open Day at the well known West Dean Guitar Festival. A lot of classical guitarists came to West Dean to hear and get master classes from famous guitarists. 

February 2006 - The Dutch Guitar Duo Duolisme play their brand new Bert Kwakkel concert guitars type Merula.

October 2005 - The idea for the Merula Special, a classical guitar with neck, fingerboard and head made of one piece of Brazilian rosewood, was in Bert's mind for a long time. In October 2005 the first Merula Special was completed. Many others followed...