April 8, 2003
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu

The charismatic Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will perform a dazzling program of Spanish and Latin American music at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Mural Room

Summary Facts:

• Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
• One of the world’s premier instrumental ensembles
• The group features UCSB professor John Dearman
• A Chamber Music in Historic Sites® concert
• Saturday, May 10
• 3 & 5 pm / Santa Barbara County Courthouse Mural Room
• A reception and architecture chat will be held for both shows
• General: $35, UCSB students: $20 (limited availability)
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

Focused virtuosity meets maverick charisma when the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ), a 2003 Grammy Award nominee in the best-classical-crossover category, performs two concerts on Saturday, May 10 at 3 and 5 pm in the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Mural Room, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara. These four guitarists bring a new energy to the concert stage with their eclectic programs and dynamic musical interplay. Their critically acclaimed transcriptions of concert masterworks provide a fresh look at the music of the past, while their interpretations of works from the contemporary and world-music realms continually break new ground. The Los Angeles Times wrote, “It’s clear by now that the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet is one of the wonders of the chamber music scene rooted in the West. It boasts intricate arrangements, all-for-one empathy and repertoire-stretching adventurism.”

The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet’s concerts will be drawn largely from its most recent album on Telarc, LAGQ—Latin. This disc features new original works by members of the quartet plus the group’s popular transcription of Bizet’s Carmen, along with compositions by Cuban Leo Brouwer, Argentinean Astor Piazzolla, Brazilian Egberto Gismonti and Spaniard Joaquin Rodrigo. Barnes & Noble.com claims that the recording “stakes out a wide and varied landscape. But despite the diversity encompassed here, the program hangs together well, thanks in large part to the vital and sophisticated performances by the Quartet. Breezy yet serious, LAGQ Latin is impossible to categorize, and that’s a very good thing.”

Although in performance LAGQ sounds like an incredibly attuned single instrument, the ensemble is composed of four talented individual guitarists. John Dearman has been director of classical guitar studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara since fall 2002. Scott Tennant and William Kanengiser are both on the faculty of the University of Southern California. Tennant is the author of the best-selling book/video Pumping Nylon, a technical manual for classical guitarists, while Kanengiser is the winner of the Concert Artists Guild New York Competition. Andrew York had his album Denouement voted Best Classical Album by Guitar Player magazine.

The LAGQ has given recitals in many of the world’s top concert halls, including Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, and New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. They have toured extensively in Europe and Asia.

In recent seasons, the LAGQ has been heard on Minnesota Public Radio’s St. Paul Sunday Morning, and seen as soloists in a nationally broadcast performance with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops on PBS’s Evening at Pops. They have also been featured on CNN’s Show Biz Today, CBS’s Saturday Morning and A&E Network’s Breakfast with the Arts.

For further information about LAGQ, including videos of performances, see its website at www.lagq.com.

As part of their residency, members of LAGQ will hold two Guitar Master Classes with UCSB students on Thursday, May 8 at 2 pm at Geiringer Hall, UCSB Department of Music and on Friday, May 9 at 10 am at Geiringer Hall, UCSB Department of Music (a co-sponsor of the event). Both classes are free and open to public observation.

This concert is the third of three events in UCSB Arts & Lectures’ 2002-2003 performing arts season held in local buildings of architectural significance where audiences can experience music in unique and intimate environments.

The Santa Barbara County Courthouse has been called the most beautiful government building in America. Designed by William Mooser III, the Spanish-Moorish style building was completed in 1929 after the 1925 earthquake ruined much of the city. It occupies a square block in downtown Santa Barbara. Dan Sayre Groesbeck, who went on to be scenic designer for Cecil B. DeMille, painted the vast panoramas in the Courthouse Mural Room. These paintings trace California history from the arrival of Rodriquez Cabrillo in 1542 to the coming of John C. Fremont over the San Marcos Pass in 1846. These bravura larger-than-life scenes mark the end of a long tradition of romantic historical murals in California and are a perennial favorite of visitors. This room is sure to be an inspired setting for these concerts.

UCSB Arts & Lectures presents its historic sites series by agreement with Chamber Music in Historic Sites®—a nationally licensed series, Dr. MaryAnn Bonino, president and founder. Thanks to the Pearl Chase Society for its support and to Santa Barbara Magazine for sponsoring this concert. This residency is funded in part by an organizational development grant from the City of Santa Barbara. Tickets are $35 for the general public and $20, but in limited availability, for UCSB students.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.