Today, the GRAMMY Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) self-releases its 14th commercial album, Opalescent, marking the group's 40th anniversary as a touring ensemble. Dedicated to the memory of the brilliant Australian composer Phillip Houghton, it features his pieces Opals and Wave Radiance, exploring the synesthetic intermingling of light and sound. Other works include Andrew York’s Hidden Realm of Light, Kevin Callahan’s Alki Point, Matt Greif’s arrangement of Michael Hedges’ Aerial Boundaries, Frederic Hand’s Chorale, Robert Beaser’s Chaconne, and Tilman Hoppstock’s Suite Transcendent.
Music / “Live Classical Music”. Matt Withers. At Wesley Music Centre. February 19. Reviewed by ROB KENNEDY.
ANCIENT sounds like the guitar and the lute always take a listener back to another time, and even with contemporary music the guitar still holds that connection to the past, but with Matt Withers playing the guitar the sounds are extraordinary no matter what period the music comes from.
In a sold-out concert, with social distancing, the Wesley Music Centre is the perfect place for a solo classical guitar. The sound that Withers creates on his instrument makes that space come alive.
Beginning with three pieces by Robert Davidson, the first titled “Twenty Twenty”, was not only a world premiere, but it suggested, as Withers said, to offer a sense of hope and joy, and it did. This quite Australian sounding piece reflected a laid back laconic style. The following two works, “Daring to Love” and “Forest”, were flowing and mellow pieces, but also fiery at times. T
“You have to be very versatile in Australia as a musician. You can’t afford to put all your eggs in the soloist basket because you’ll starve if you do, or at the least get bored. That forces you into something that turns out to be really quite a virtue and that is having to play together with other people in ensembles. And that has tremendous benefits.”
Australian guitarist Timothy Kain celebrated his 70th birthday on 25th January this year and has so much to celebrate. He’s had a terrific career as a soloist, a duo guitarist with the likes of John Williams and many other great Australian instrumentalists, and he’s the founder of Guitar Trek, Australia’s unique and pioneering guitar quartet.
January 1, 2021
Classical Guitar
It’s always a pleasure to visit John Williams. He’s a very natural person and the fact that he’s indisputably one of the finest guitarists who’s ever lived is, on these occasions, neither here nor there. Yes, that’s why I’m talking with him, making an interview for the magazine, but invariably we’re just chatting over coffee and then eventually lunch. Life goes on around us, it’s easygoing. There’s always something fresh, every time, and my visit to John coincided with a period in which he was preparing to work very seriously in a guitar duo. For anyone already doing this it’s a real fillip; if John Williams goes for something, the guitar world sits up and takes notice. It can only raise the profile. So I began by asking about his new duo with Tim Kain.