About the Artists

Fabio Mittino and Bert Lams share a musical partnership that spans more than 15 years and hundreds of performances throughout the United States and Europe.

Their story began in 1996, when a young Fabio traveled from Italy seeking to study the innovative guitar techniques of legendary guitarist Robert Fripp. He was introduced to Bert Lams, an accomplished classical guitarist and co-founder of the California Guitar Trio, and a teacher-student relationship began that would eventually grow into a longtime musical collaboration.

Bert studied classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, graduating cum laude, and later toured internationally with Robert Fripp’s League of Crafty Guitarists. He went on to co-found the California Guitar Trio, recording 16 albums and performing extensively around the world. Fabio began his own classical guitar studies in Italy before exploring Fripp’s Guitar Craft technique and developing a particular passion for the music of composer Thomas de Hartmann.

Together, Mittino and Lams have arranged and performed at least 40 of de Hartmann’s works, bringing this rarely heard music to audiences in intimate venues, churches and theaters across Europe and the United States. Their latest project, A Life in Music, presents 27 compositions spanning de Hartmann’s remarkable musical journey.

And the guitars themselves are part of the story. Fabio and Bert deliberately perform this repertoire on acoustic archtop guitars—including vintage Gibson instruments—seeking a distinctive, resonant sound and bringing an instrument closely associated with jazz back into a classical setting.

A Life in Music offers a rare opportunity to experience these two remarkable musicians in the intimate setting of the Celebrate St. James Center for the Arts — and to meet the artists behind the music.

Learn more about Fabio Mittino & Bert Lams

A Life in Music: Fabio Mittino & Bert Lams

Celebrating the Music of Thomas de Hartmann