Damien Aribert started his classical guitar studies at the age of 7, first with Evelyne Lacheret and later on with Brigitte Repiton.
In 2000, he entered the Ecole Nationale de Musique et de Danse (ENMD) in Romans sur Isère, in the class of Gilles Gogniat, where he obtained his degree ‘Diplôme d’Etudes Musicales (DEM)’.
From 2004 to 2006, he studied with Emmanuel Rossfelder (the winner of the ‘Victoires de la Musique Classique’ in 2004 and a former pupil of Alexandre Lagoya), and obtained in 2008 his classical guitar teaching state diploma.
His very eclectic musical styles inspired him to create various pieces (Editions du Petit Page) ranging from a suite for 4 cellos, as a tribute to the famous Finnish band Apocalyptica, to a romantic jazz-waltz for solo guitar ‘La Rossfelda’, dedicated to Emmanuel Rossfelder (who added the piece to his repertoire).
He furthermore composed pieces in the South American music styles (‘Eclipse à Rio’, Editions Soldano), swing, ragtime…to develop a technique of playing inspired by the bassists, unreleased on classical guitar which he named ‘PERCUSLAP’ (simultaneous combination of slap and percussions).
He played at various festivals (Nice Festival ‘C’est pas classique’, ‘Festival Des Vents’ in Morières Les Avignon, ‘Musiques à Pontorson’, ‘Guitares du Cotentin’, ‘Randobaie du Mont St Michel’…) as well as on different regional and national venues (in Aubagne, Marseille, Pernes les Fontaines, Avignon, La Garde Adhémar, Vénéjan, Valréas, La Baume de Transit, Comps…), which resulted in musical meetings with high quality artists like Per-Olov Kindgren, a Swedish guitarist with international fame.
Recorded in 2014 at the internationally renowned studio ‘La Buissonne’ reputed for acoustic qualities, Damien Aribert’s CD ‘Destinations’ has been recognized by the National and International specialized press.
2017 was a year rich in awards: he won 1st Prize at the International Competition InterArtia, in the category ‘Classical Guitar’, for his entire body of work, and won 1st Prize at the Greek International Composition Competition ‘Kithara’ for his bossa-nova ‘Nin-Nin’ (the piece had been published earlier in the year in the American magazine ‘Classical Guitar’).
Finally, he won the award for ‘Artist of the Year 2017’ in the ‘Classical guitar’ and ‘Musical composition’ categories, which he received from the ‘International Art Society’, as part of the 35th International Guitar Festival in Volos, Greece.
Success continues in 2018 with Damien winning for the second time in a row 1st Prize for best composition at the Greek International Competition ‘Kithara’, with his bossa nova piece ‘Chouttis’, soon to be published by Editions Soldano.
Then, he became a Honorary Member of the International Art Academy, ‘Official Partner’ and ‘Honorary Founding Member’ of World Guitar Day, supported by UNESCO.
In 2022, he wrote the Anthem ‘Fly me to Volos’ dedicated to Volos World Guitar Orchestra as well as to Maestro Yorgos Foudoulis who conducts it.
This composition becoming the emblem of World Guitar Day, will be played around the world by many official partners during the next edition.
He receives the distinction of ‘Outstanding and Distinguished Honorary Member of the Volos World Guitar Orchestra’ in recognition.
The same year, he was also a finalist in the International Spanish composition competition ‘Fidelio’.
He currently teaches classical guitar at ‘Ecole des Arts’ of Avranches-Mont Saint Michel (France) and plays on hand-crafted ‘Damien Aribert signature’ concert guitars made by the French luthier Renaud Galabert.
