
The Georgia Guitar Quartet has emerged as an exciting new voice in today's chamber music scene. These four young men from the American South deliver a high-energy blend of breathtaking virtuosity and imaginative programming while taking an adventurous approach to classical music. Borrowing from both the past and present, the GGQ consistently draw inspiration from the ever-evolving palette of music that has influenced them: classical masters such as Bach and Brahms, experimentalists in the vein of Cage, Bartók and Stockhausen, and contemporary rock icons like Radiohead and Led Zeppelin. Audiences at a GGQ concert experience an exciting musical journey through an expansive array of genres, continents, and time periods. Rousing Irish folk music and late Impressionistic masterpieces share the stage, while the sublime beauty of Chopin rubs shoulders with ground-breaking contemporary works. Accomplished composers themselves, the Quartet frequently incorporate their own unique works into their increasingly dynamic concert program. The incredible range and interactive spontaneity of a performance by the GGQ continually leaves audiences with something to remember, resulting in a thrilling new way to experience chamber music in the 21st century.
Hailing from Athens, Georgia, the Quartet recently marked its 10th anniversary
season with two sold-out performances in New York, a performance at the Cerritos
Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, and an appearance at the Deer
Valley Music Festival in Park City, Utah where they performed Rodrigo's "Concerto
Andaluz" with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. The ensemble maintains an active
national concert schedule, performing in a variety of venues that range from
concert halls to popular music clubs. They have released four recordings, the
most recent of which consists exclusively of music composed by the Quartet.
In addition to receiving praise for its members' original compositions and inventive
transcriptions of pre-existing works, the Georgia Guitar Quartet has also been
recognized for its novel interpretation of guitar quartet staples. Several notable
composers have dedicated new works to the GGQ, including Russian composer Nikita
Koshkin. On several occasions they have collaborated with modern dance groups
and visual artists to produce multi-media performances, and they have recently
embarked on a new collaboration with lyric baritone Robert Sims. In 2001, the
Quartet was invited by Christopher Parkening to perform as the guest artists
at his twenty-seventh annual masterclass in Bozeman, Montana. A review of their
Piccolo Spoleto Festival performance in Charleston, South Carolina, described
the concert as "a dazzling display of technical prowess, versatile programming,
and audience rapport." The town of Athens, which boasts a rich musical
heritage, has honored the ensemble by awarding them "Best Classical Artist"
in Athens five years in a row at the Athens Flagpole Music Awards.