The Georgia Guitar Quartet loves classical music, but its boundaries don't stop there. As followers of the somewhat new tradition of four-guitar ensemble, the players have found that they are, themselves, helping to forge the tradition.
"Three of the four of us are very active composers," explained quartet member Jason Solomon, adding that the fourth does much of the arranging.
Classical performers who write their own music are fairly unusual; most focus solely on interpreting works written by others. The Georgia Guitar Quartet, on the other hand, plays works by others but augments that with its own material.
"The fact that three of us are composing and pretty regularly contributing new works for the group sets us apart," Solomon said. "And part of the reason I think that's helpful is that the guitar quartet is a relatively new type of ensemble in the music world."
The phenomenon of the guitar quartet, he said, began in the mid-1950s. "What has been written has obviously been written since the latter half of the 20th century. There are quite a few modern compositions that are out there, but if we want to play anything prior to the 20th century, we have to arrange it. And some things just simply won't work for four guitars. I would hate to hear Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' on four guitars."
And when they compose and arrange, Solomon said that the writer customizes the music to highlight the technical and musical strengths of each of the four members.
Sometimes, music that works for a four-guitar arrangement is a little off the beaten classical path. "We do jazz, we do pop, we do Irish folk tunes, we've done arrangements of Paul Simon songs, and even a Guns N' Roses song, we do a bluegrass tune. We try to kind of mix it up and blur the distinction between the different categories and styles of music.
"That's one of the things that I think the four of us kind of stand for. I don't know if we really like all the barriers that kind of get imposed on music in general."
The Georgia Guitar Quartet will be performing twice with the Deer Valley Music Festival. On one program, Solomon said that members will perform Rodrigo's "Concerto Andaluz." "It's really the only concerto that's been written for guitar quartet and orchestra. Luckily, it's a good one. We don't have much to choose from, but it's a really fine piece of work."
The other program, he said, would be more typical of what they usually play, with the Renaissance, Baroque, classical and romantic periods represented — plus some fun additions, such as Vince Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy." "We like to have all the different styles sort of mixed together. We do definitely consider the flow of the program, so it's not just like a roller-coaster ride, but we do try to, on every concert, have all the styles represented and just mixed in to a good, flowing sort of a program."
Also included on the program will be a set of pieces composed by various Georgia Guitar Quartet members. One of those pieces, "Flight," will be on their upcoming CD, an album made up entirely of their own compositions. "We've been working on it for a while, and we're trying to get it done by maybe early fall and hope to have it released by the end of the year.
"That's our goal, but it keeps getting delayed. We hope it doesn't become like Brian Wilson's 'Smile,' which took him years and years, or Guns N' Roses' 'Chinese Democracy,' which has been delayed for about 10 years now. We hope to get it out sooner than that."
If they do get it out this year, it will still be in time for their 10-year anniversary. "We all met at the University of Georgia," said Solomon. "After we had been there for about a year, our guitar instructor, John Sutherland, sort of was responsible for selecting the four of us and putting us together and coaching us in the early stages of our development."
So what are they going to do to celebrate 10 years together? "I think we're going to show up at (Sutherland's) house Thursday night with a big cooler full of beer and just sit around and reminisce and just talk and have a good time."
If you go
What: Georgia Guitar Quartet
Where: St. Mary's Church, Park City
When: Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m.
How much: $20
Phone: 355-2787 or 888-451-2787
Web:www.deervalleymusicfestival.org
E-mail: rcline@desnews.com