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Celebrating their twenty-seventh year on the concert stage, the members of the GRAMMY®-winning 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 over 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 that have made 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, LAGQ's Guitar Heroes, won a GRAMMY® in this category in 2005. Their subsequent Telarc release, Spin, gained wide critical acclaim, as did their recent live concert DVD for Mel Bay Records, LAGQ Live at the Sheldon.

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 long-time friend Matthew Greif into the group, and this recording showcases his agile musicianship, cultured sound, and mature jazz skills. In its new incarnation, the tradition of refined chamber-music making and category-defying innovation that made LAGQ famous is sure to continue to thrive for years to come. The genesis of the Brazilian-flavored CD began with a touring collaboration of LAGQ with the brilliant Brazilian singer Luciana Souza in 2006; with over a dozen concerts, including one at Zankel Hall (Carnegie) in New York, this joint project yielded a number of newly composed and specially arranged pieces exploring the music of Brazil. In discovering common musical ground with Ms. Souza, LAGQ was inspired to fully explore the rich traditions of Brazilian music, and to find connections with American forms such as jazz, blues and funk.

LAGQ is already actively planning its next recording project, a Bach celebration, and is 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, and their restless curiosity will continue to inspire them to explore new musical directions for the guitar quartet.

 

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 the Director of Guitar Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.


Matt 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, Mark Pratt, and Frank Potenza. Matthew has taught at several colleges and universities throughout Central and Southern California.

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.