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University Orchestra Director Kimo Furumoto is delighted to welcome these guests to Meng Concert Hall, saying “I am thrilled to have the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet perform with the CSUF Symphony Orchestra. Their unanimity of ensemble and musicality will be a special inspiration to our students.”
Celebrating their 27th year on the concert stage, the members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet continue to set the standard for expression and virtuosity among guitar ensembles, while perennially redefining themselves in their musical explorations. With more than a dozen recordings over the past two decades, they have established themselves as masters of the classics, as well as the creators of the unique syntheses of world music and contemporary styles making the “LAGQ-sound” a favorite around the world. Their first recording for Telarc International, “LAGQ: Latin,” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Classical Crossover Recording in 2003, while the second, “Guitar Heroes,” won a Grammy in this category in 2005.
With the release of their newest Telarc recording, “LAGQ Brazil in September 2007,” the group finds itself writing a new chapter in its history. The three founding members John Dearman, William Kanengiser and Scott Tennant welcome longtime friend Matthew Greif into the group, and this recording showcases his agile musicianship, cultured sound and mature jazz skills. The genesis of the Brazilian-flavored CD began with a touring collaboration with Brazilian singer Luciana Souza in 2006. In discovering common musical ground with Souza, LAGQ was inspired to more fully explore the rich traditions of Brazilian music, and to find connections with American forms such as jazz, blues and funk.
LAGQ is actively planning its next recording project, a Bach celebration, and working to expand its repertoire with new concerto commissions by Sergio Assad and Carlos Rafael Rivera. Their active touring schedule takes them throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
The most accomplished and recorded guitar quartet since the Romeros, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.” — Jim Svejda, KUSC Radio
Cal State Fullerton’s University Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Furumoto, who is also music director/conductor of the Huntington (West Virginia) Symphony Orchestra, regularly enchants audiences and critics, and receives praise like “first-rate” and “rich, full and aggressive.” This season’s other guest artists include pianist Navah Perlman and violinist Jamie Laredo. |
