FARMINGTON – Jad Azkoul, an internationally renowned classical guitarist, will give a recital Saturday, March 4, in Nordica Auditorium of Merrill Hall on the University of Maine at Farmington campus.

The program featuring works by Villa-Lobos, Albeniz and Castelnuovo-Tedesco will begin at 7:30 p.m.

“Heitor Villa-Lobos, one of the most prolific composers of our time, wrote music for every instrument and combination imaginable, music that was Brazilian to the very core,” Azkoul stated. “I have chosen to play his set of five preludes as a personal tribute to the composer, whose beautiful music was one of the instigating factors in my taking up the classical guitar seriously.”

According to Azkoul, Castelnuovo-Tedesco was born in Florence, Italy, and became famous when the Andrés Segovia performed and recorded many of his compositions.

“Albéniz was a virtuoso pianist whose compositions and performances helped to make the charm of Spanish music, with its guitar-like sonorities, heard in concert halls all over the world,” Azkoul said.

Azkoul has performed throughout the world. He studied in Australia at age 13; in Lebanon while getting his master’s in psychology at the American University of Beirut; in Boston when studying arranging and composition at the Berklee College of Music; and in Paris while studying composition, orchestration and analysis with Pierre Petit and Nadia Boulanger. He lives and teaches in Geneva.

Admission at the door will be $7 for general admission, $6 for senior citizens and free for those under 16. For more information, people can call 645-2157 or go to the Arts Institute of Western Maine’s Web site, ArtsInstitute.org.