One of my favorite local ensembles, the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, joined me in the studio today for some live music.
Comprising Joe Hagedorn, Benjamin Kunkel (the newest member), Wade Oden and Maja Radovanlija, the quartet will be performing a concert this Sunday, Feb. 15, at Sundin Hall on the campus of Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.
"It's an exciting concert because of all the new music," Hagedorn says. "Exciting and scary!"
The concert features three new pieces by Minnesota composers, including "The Sea Between", written by David Crittenden — a former Minneapolis Guitar Quartet member — who now teaches music at Hamline and at Bethel University.
Also included in the concert is music by Joaquin Rodrigo, Astor Piazzolla, Alberto Ginastera, Ben Abrahamson and J.S. Bach, as well as a piece by the quartet's own Maja Radovanlija, who has written a piece in a time signature that's typical to folk songs of her native Serbia, but does not often appear in other places. The concert will also feature flamenco dancing by Colette Illarde.
In chatting with me, the quartet members also talk about something that many guitarists obsess over: fingernails or what to use in place of them.
Listen to the complete interview and in-studio performances by clicking the audio player above.
Audio produced by Mike Pengra.
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