Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
Encyclopedia
The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) consists of John Dearman
, William Kanengiser
, Scott Tennant
and Matthew Greif (who replaced Andrew York
towards the end of 2006). They are known for using nylon string guitars to imitate a variety of instruments and effects.
They have played in many styles; Baroque
, Bluegrass
, Flamenco
, Rock
, and New Age
are among their repertoire. The quartet received a Grammy Award
in 2005 for Best Classical Crossover CD, Guitar Heroes
. Recent projects include their latest CD, Spin, a tour of new arrangements by the quartet as well as other modern composers.
in 1980 by Anisa Angarola
under the oversight of Pepe Romero
of the famed The Romeros
guitar quartet. Among pieces in their repertoire are the works of quartet member Andrew York
. See: http://andrewyork.net/blog/Blogpage_lagq.php. His Pacific Coast highway, Quiccan and Bantu are among his more popular compositions for the quartet.
is the quartet's seven-string guitar master. He had a special guitar made for him with an added bass string and extended fretboard allowing for greater range, both higher and lower. He currently teaches at El Camino College
as well as being on faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara
.
, another of the founding members of the quartet, has arranged numerous works for the quartet including the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
by Franz Liszt
and the group's gamelan
piece, "Gongan". He is currently on the guitar faculty of the University of Southern California
. He is a double graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music
.
is one of the founding members of the LAGQ. He has recorded two albums of the guitar works of Joaquín Rodrigo
as well as another recording featuring Celtic music
of England
, Ireland
and Scotland
as well as several modern compositions. He is also a guitar instructor at the University of Southern California
and an author
of a number of classical guitar
method books.
left in late 2006 and was replaced by Matthew Greif. York played with the quartet for 16 years. He posted an open letter about his departure on the quartet's site.http://www.lagq.com/letter_york.php Here is Andrew's account of his history with LAGQ: http://andrewyork.net/blog/Blogpage_lagq.php
John Dearman
John Dearman is a Grammy Award-winning classical guitarist and one of the founding members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet . Known to LAGQ fans as the group's seven-string virtuoso who supplies the deep-bass lines for numerous pieces in the quartet's eclectic reportoire.Dearman holds a Bachelor...
, William Kanengiser
William Kanengiser
William Kanengiser is a Grammy Award-winning classical guitarist. He is one of the founding members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet .Kanengiser holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where he also serves as a...
, Scott Tennant
Scott Tennant
Scott Tennant is a Grammy Award-winning American classical guitarist. He is a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and is the author of the Pumping Nylon series of instructional books, repertoire supplements, and DVD....
and Matthew Greif (who replaced Andrew York
Andrew York
Andrew York is an American classical guitarist and composer.York was born in 1958 in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up in Virginia. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Guitar Performance in 1980 at James Madison University and completed his Master of Music degree at University of...
towards the end of 2006). They are known for using nylon string guitars to imitate a variety of instruments and effects.
They have played in many styles; Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
, Bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, Flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, Rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
are among their repertoire. The quartet received a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 2005 for Best Classical Crossover CD, Guitar Heroes
Guitar Heroes
The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet's Guitar Heroes won best Classical-Crossover Album at the 47th Grammy Awards. The CD pays respect to guitarists that have influenced LAGQ...
. Recent projects include their latest CD, Spin, a tour of new arrangements by the quartet as well as other modern composers.
The quartet
The quartet was formed at the Thornton School of Music at USCUniversity of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in 1980 by Anisa Angarola
Anisa Angarola
Anisa Angarola is one of twelve guitar soloists selected nationwide to perform in the historic 1980 master class given by Andrés Segovia. She is also founder of the renowned Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, recording and touring with the group for ten years to international acclaim...
under the oversight of Pepe Romero
Pepé Romero
Pepe Romero is a world-renowned classical and flamenco guitarist. He is particularly famous for his outstanding technique and colorful musical interpretations on the instrument....
of the famed The Romeros
The Romeros
Los Romeros, The Romero Guitar Quartet, is a guitar quartet, sometimes known as "The Royal Family of the Guitar" — their personnel consists entirely of members of the Romero family....
guitar quartet. Among pieces in their repertoire are the works of quartet member Andrew York
Andrew York
Andrew York is an American classical guitarist and composer.York was born in 1958 in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up in Virginia. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Guitar Performance in 1980 at James Madison University and completed his Master of Music degree at University of...
. See: http://andrewyork.net/blog/Blogpage_lagq.php. His Pacific Coast highway, Quiccan and Bantu are among his more popular compositions for the quartet.
John Dearman
John DearmanJohn Dearman
John Dearman is a Grammy Award-winning classical guitarist and one of the founding members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet . Known to LAGQ fans as the group's seven-string virtuoso who supplies the deep-bass lines for numerous pieces in the quartet's eclectic reportoire.Dearman holds a Bachelor...
is the quartet's seven-string guitar master. He had a special guitar made for him with an added bass string and extended fretboard allowing for greater range, both higher and lower. He currently teaches at El Camino College
El Camino College
El Camino College is a two-year public community college located partially in the unincorporated area of Alondra Park and partially in the City of Torrance in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is commonly referred to as "Elco" or "ECC"...
as well as being on faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
.
William Kanengiser
William KanengiserWilliam Kanengiser
William Kanengiser is a Grammy Award-winning classical guitarist. He is one of the founding members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet .Kanengiser holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where he also serves as a...
, another of the founding members of the quartet, has arranged numerous works for the quartet including the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, S.244/2, is the second in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, and is by far the most famous of the set. Few other piano solos have achieved such widespread popularity, offering the pianist the opportunity to reveal exceptional skill as a virtuoso,...
by Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
and the group's gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
piece, "Gongan". He is currently on the guitar faculty of the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. He is a double graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music
USC Thornton School of Music
The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, founded in 1884 and dedicated in 1999, is one of the premier music schools in the United States...
.
Matthew Greif
Matthew Greif replaced Andrew York in 2006, and is a former student of Kanengiser and Tennant.Scott Tennant
Scott TennantScott Tennant
Scott Tennant is a Grammy Award-winning American classical guitarist. He is a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and is the author of the Pumping Nylon series of instructional books, repertoire supplements, and DVD....
is one of the founding members of the LAGQ. He has recorded two albums of the guitar works of Joaquín Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez , commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success...
as well as another recording featuring Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
as well as several modern compositions. He is also a guitar instructor at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
and an author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of a number of classical guitar
Classical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
method books.
Andrew York
Andrew YorkAndrew York
Andrew York is an American classical guitarist and composer.York was born in 1958 in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up in Virginia. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Guitar Performance in 1980 at James Madison University and completed his Master of Music degree at University of...
left in late 2006 and was replaced by Matthew Greif. York played with the quartet for 16 years. He posted an open letter about his departure on the quartet's site.http://www.lagq.com/letter_york.php Here is Andrew's account of his history with LAGQ: http://andrewyork.net/blog/Blogpage_lagq.php
Discography
- Interchange: Concertos by Rodrigo & Assad, Telarc International, Release date, March 23, 2010
- Brazil, Telarc International, Release date, September 19, 2007
- Spin, Telarc International, Release date, March 28, 2006
- Guitar Heroes, Telarc International, Release date, June 22, 2004
- LAQG: Latin, Telarc International, Release date, September 24, 2002
- Guitar Recital
- Dances from Renaissance to Nutcracker
- Evening in Granada
- Labyrinth
- For Thy Pleasure
- The Best of LAGQ
- L.A.G.Q.
- Air and Ground
- LAGQ Live! (DVD)
- LAGQ: Brazil
External links
- lagq.com
- Scott Tennant's website
- William Kanengiser's website
- Matthew Greif's website
- Andrew York's website
- http://andrewyork.net/blog/Blogpage_lagq.php Andrew's history with LAGQ