The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) is an American classical guitar ensemble that was formed in 1980. It consists of John Dearman,

William Kanengiser William Kanengiser (born July 22, 1959) is a classical guitarist. He is one of the founding members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ). Kanengiser was born in Orange, New Jersey.Maurice J. Summerfield: ''The Classical Guitar. Its Evolutio ...

Scott Tennant Scott Tennant is an American classical guitarist. He is a member of the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Born in Detroit, Michigan in March 1962, he began his musical and guitar studies at the age of six. He attended Cass Techni ...

and Matthew Greif (who replaced original member Andrew York at the end of 2006). They play nylon string guitars to imitate a variety of instruments and effects. They have played in many styles:

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

, bluegrass,

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, and new-age. The quartet received a Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered ...

for '' Guitar Heroes''.

Background

Anisa Angarola assembled the quartet in 1980 at the University of Southern California with help from guitarist

Pepe Romero Pepe Romero (born March 8, 1944, in Málaga, Spain) is a classical and flamenco guitarist. Biography Early life Pepe Romero was born in Spain, the second son of celebrated guitarist and composer Celedonio Romero, who was his only guitar t ...

. In 1990 Andrew York replaced Angarola. In 2006 York was replaced by Matthew Greif. The group's first album included works by

Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

, and

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

. Although primarily a classical ensemble, the group dabbles in other genres. The album ''Guitar Heroes'' included music by

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music st ...

, Sergio Assad,

Steve Howe Stephen James Howe (born 8 April 1947) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to l ...

, and

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...

. The group has played classical music from the Baroque, Classical, Renaissance, Romantic, and modern periods.

has recorded albums of the guitar works of

Joaquín Rodrigo Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez (; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the ''Concierto de Aranjuez'', a cornerstone of the classical guit ...

and the

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary consider ...

of England, Ireland and Scotland. He has taught at the University of Southern California and has written method books for classical guitar. John Dearman plays a custom guitar with an added bass string and extended fretboard. He has taught at

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

has arranged works for the quartet, including the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

and the

gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

piece "Gongan". He has taught at the University of Southern California and is a graduate of the

USC Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

.Ljiljana Grubisic
Thornton Faculty, Alums Win Grammys
, USC Public Relations, March 12, 2007, Accessed March 4, 2009.

Awards and honors

* ''Latin'', Grammy Award nomination, 2003 * ''Guitar Heroes'', Grammy Award, Best Classical Crossover, 2005

Discography

* ''L.A. Guitar Quartet Recital'' (GHA, 1991) * ''Dances from Renaissance to Nutcracker'' (

Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...

, 1992) * ''Evening in Granada'' (Delos, 1993) * ''Manuel de Falla: El Amor Brujo'' (GHA, 1994) * ''Labyrinth'' (Delos, 1995) * ''For Thy Pleasure'' (Delos, 1996) * ''L.A.G.Q.'' (

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, 1998) * ''Air and Ground'' (Sony, 2000) * ''LAGQ Latin'' (

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...

, 2002) * ''Guitar Heroes'' (Telarc, 2004) * ''Spin'' (Telarc, 2006) * ''Brazil'' (Telarc, 2007) * ''Interchange: Concertos by Rodrigo and Assad'' (Telarc, 2010) * ''Boccherini: Guitar Quintets'' (Red Bus, 2011) * ''New Renaissance'' (Burnside/Lagq, 2015) * ''Opalescent'' (2022)

Articles

Interview (1987)
by Paul Magnussen

References

External links

Official site

Scott Tennant's website

William Kanengiser's website

Matthew Greif's website

Andrew York's website
{{authority control Musical groups established in 1980 Classical guitar ensembles Grammy Award winners