L.A. Guitar Quartet arrives at UCLA
By Daily Bruin Staff
Jan. 25, 1996 9:00 p.m.
L.A. Guitar Quartet arrives at UCLA
Creative foursome make UCLA into ‘Labyrinth’ of sound
By Jennifer Richmond
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
They met 15 years ago at USC and they’ve been together ever
since.
They are John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant and
Andy York of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and they’ll be
performing at Schoenberg Hall Saturday night.
The four started as classical guitar students who happened to be
taking the same classical guitar class. Their professor, Pepe
Romero, was in a guitar quartet with his father and two brothers.
It was their success that made Dearman, Kanengiser, Tennant and
York decide to give the quartet a try.
But they decided to take a different route. Unlike Romero, they
chose to perform more contemporary music. In this concert they will
be performing a new piece, "Labyrinth," by UCLA’s own Ian Krouse,
another USC alum whom the group met while in attendance.
Kanengiser feels "Labyrinth" is the perfect example of how
different the quartet tries to be.
"The piece brings rock to the classical field because the song
is Led Zeppelin-based," Kanengiser says. "So, we’ll be using picks
and bending the strings like rock players. We even have to sing,"
he says – something the group rarely does.
But they don’t have to worry about choosing a lead singer for
this piece because Kanengiser says the song is just for added
texture. "There aren’t any lyrics," he explains.
This number is just one example of the breadth of the quartet’s
repertoire. Although they usually do a variety of styles from High
Baroque to Led Zeppelin to Spanish Operas and Afro-pop, they try to
stay close to the more classical side of the spectrum.
In this week’s concert Kanengiser says they’ll be doing a mix of
well-known arrangements, from Bach to the opera "Carmen," as well
as other contemporary and original pieces.
They have a piece from group member York and another from a
"great composer" based in Portland. But it’s "Labyrinth" that will
have its West Coast premiere and the piece they’re most excited
about.
This isn’t the first time the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet has
played at UCLA. They were here roughly two years ago and Kanengiser
says they were a big hit.
"We usually get a really good turn out," he says. "We have a
pretty good following on the West Coast." Being from Southern
California, it’s no surprise. But they don’t just play the States.
They toured Europe for a month in the fall, in two weeks they’ll
fly to Japan and they have a date set in England for May.
No matter where they perform, they hope the audience gets as
much joy out of the show as they get performing it. "We want the
audience to see how wide the possibilities are with classical
guitar," he explains. "And since all the pieces are done on
nylon-stringed guitars, there’s a wide range of sound
possibilities."
CONCERT: Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Performing at Schoenberg
Hall Saturday at 8 p.m. TIX: $29.50 or $9 with a valid Student I.D.
For more info. call (310) 825-2101.Comments to
[email protected]
