Dublin Guitar Quartet
2013-10-19 00:00 UTC | Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport, MA 01966 Travelling by Car: Rockport is 45 miles from downtown Boston. Drive north on Route 128 (through two rotaries) to the traffic light in Gloucester. At the traffic light, turn left onto Route 127. Drive 4 miles to Rockport. Continue through “Five Corners” onto Route 127A (Broadway) toward the harbor. It’s a slight vere to the right. At the stop sign at Mt. Pleasant Street (lighthouse in median), turn left and then bear left onto Main Street. The Shalin Liu Performance Center is on the right at 37 Main Street. Travelling by Train: Rockport is accessible by commuter rail from Boston and other Northshore towns. The commuter rail originates from North Station on the Green line in Boston. The train station is ½ mile walk to the concert hall. Walking Directions from Rockport Train Station: Leave Rockport Commuter Rail Station and turn left onto Railroad Avenue. Turn right onto King Street for and then turn right onto Beach Street (Atlantic Ocean and Front Beach on other side of Beach Street). Follow Beach Street and the Shalin Liu Performance Center will be on your left after you’ve merged onto Main Street. The Congregational Church is across the street.
Broaden your musical horizons with the explosive, entertaining, and always original Dublin Guitar Quartet (DGQ), a one-of-a-kind classical guitar ensemble that occupies a unique space in the chamber music world--it is the first classical guitar quartet devoted to new music. Ireland's leading guitar ensemble, the quartet performs a contemporary mix of new Irish music and celebrated guitar works and modern classics by internationally acclaimed composers like Philip Glass, Henryk Gorecki, and Steve Reich. With the help of eight and eleven-string guitars, DGQ also expands the limited repertoire by commissioning new works and adapting modern masterpieces from outside the guitar repertoire.

The quartet has been successful in bringing new music to unlikely audiences, having played with rock groups like The Redneck Manifesto (Dublin) and Final Fantasy (Canada). It has collaborated and performed with Philip Glass and celebrated Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina, among others, and was the opening concert at the inaugural Guitar Festival of Ireland which included performances by John Williams and Louis Stewart. Their debut album Deleted Pieces included works by Henryk Gorecki, Kevin Volans, Leo Brouwer, and The Redneck Manifesto. Currently, they are working on a recording that will feature established and emerging Irish composers for classical guitar quartet, as well as a recording of electric guitar quartet arrangements.

''Arranging for guitars is a very tricky business and you really have to know what you are
doing, so I have never done it, but Dave Flynn and Brian Bolger have made these
arrangements and they're really quite beautiful.'' Philip Glass, composer

''This is a quartet with a difference.'' The Irish Times

Tickets: $34, $26, $20
