A chamber music class at the University of Texas-Austin has turned into a ten-year collaboration for the Texas Guitar Quartet. Isaac Bustos says the quartet is a place of real growth for all of them.
"We're constantly learning from each other," Bustos said. "Those differences and those different musical tastes inevitably bring different ideas. Ideas that, if it was just one person, you wouldn't necessarily think about some things, like the way Joe thinks about phrasing, or the way Jon sees vibrato or the way Al sees transcriptions."
Alejandro Montiel said: "It wasn't long after Isaac finished his transcription of the Beethoven (Egmont Overture) that we saw how well orchestral repertoire could translate to guitar quartet. However, we also wanted to surprise the audience with something familiar. And what is more recognizable than the Mozart Symphony No. 40? The great thing about that work is that it also allows us to continue to challenge ourselves technically and musically."
Along with sharing classical music with the audience at HCC Dale Mabry Campus Student Services Auditorium tonight at 8, (Friday, March 4), the Texas Guitar Quartet will feature a work by member Joe Williams, one that he created based on inspiration from an old Hitchcock movie, "The Lodger."
Although it's about a series of murders, Williams said it's ultimately a love story. In his words, an "..important part of it was using just about everything guitar can do. Having four guitars is an amazing resource in terms of color and rhythms and dramatic gesture."
Jonathan Dotson said: "All the really great repertoire out there has been commissioned by the great trailblazers such as the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and Los Romeros." "We're constantly looking for ways to be different and be unique." "We're also all educators, so a very important part of this career trajectory is to actually contribute something to the musical and guitar-related society of the world and bringing the music of Mozart, Ravel and Beethoven to a new audience is a pretty special responsibility.'
