Thirty years young in 2010-11, the
Grammy Award-winning LAGQ is one of the most multifaceted groups in any
genre. The LAGQ is comprised of four uniquely accomplished musicians
bringing a new energy to the concert stage with programs ranging from
Bluegrass to Bach. They consistently play to sold-out houses
world-wide. Their inventive, 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. Programs including
Latin, African, Far East, Irish, Folk and American Classics transport
listeners around the world in a single concert experience. Their ‘Don
Quixote’ collaboration with Firesign Theater veteran, actor Philip
Proctor, continues to expand and delight audiences.
Winner of a 2005 Grammy Award, their Guitar Heroes CD released on
Telarc is a brilliant follow-up to their Grammy nominated LAGQ Latin. Spin (Telarc, Spring 2006) continues their explorations of jazz and
contemporary music. LAGQ Brazil (2007), including collaborations
with vocalist Luciana Souza, was released to rave reviews, and their
newest recording of the Rodrigo “Concierto Andaluz” and Sergio Assad’s
“Interchange”, written specifically for them, was released on Telarc in
Spring 2010, and quickly climbed to top spot on the Billboard charts.
John Dearman
Originally from Minneapolis, John Dearman is
a versatile guitarist whose repertoire ranges
from samba to bluegrass, and from flamenco
to classical. He enriches the sound of the
LAGQ by performing on a unique seven-string
guitar with extended upper and lower registers. John is currently director of the Guitar Chamber Music program at
California State University, Northridge, in Los Angeles.
Matthew Greif
Matthew Greif is the newest member of the Quartet. In addition to being
a classical guitarist, he has an extensive background playing in other
styles, such as jazz, rock, flamenco, and bluegrass. Matthew's
recordings include
Permanent Transition, which features duo improvisations with Andrew York and Dusan Bogdanovic. Matthew was named
Outstanding Graduate of the U.S.C. guitar department, where he studied with
William Kanengiser,
James Smith, and
Scott Tennant. He also studied jazz with
Joe Diorio and
Frank Potenza. Matthew currently teaches classical and jazz guitar at
Cal State University, Dominguez Hills, in the Los Angeles area.
William Kanengiser
Acclaimed soloist, recording artist and professor
at the
USC Thornton School of Music,
William Kanengiser is one of the few guitarists
to have won the
Concert Artists Guild
New York Competition. His solo recordings
on the GSP label display his unique approach
to programming, ranging from the music of the
Old World to the Caribbean to his latest disc
Classical
Cool, an exploration of jazz currents
for classical guitar. He has earned critical
acclaim for his imaginative arrangements for
solo guitar and guitar quartet, and for producing
two instructional videos for
Hot Licks.
Kanengiser may be best known as the classical
guitarist in the 1986 film
Crossroads.
Scott Tennant
Celebrated as a world-class performer, author
and teacher, Detroit-born Scott Tennant has
been concertizing since the age of twelve.
Much in demand as a solo artist, Scott has
recorded for
Delos International and
is currently completing a recording project
of the complete solo guitar works of
Joaquin
Rodrigo for GHA, Belgium. He is the
author of the best-selling book and video
Pumping
Nylon, a technical handbook for the classical
guitarist, and the five-part series
Scott
Tennant's Basic Classical Guitar Method.
He has taught at the
San Francisco
Conservatory of Music, and is now
on the faculty at the
USC Thornton
School of Music.