Photos from Athens

We’ve just posted photos from our recent concert in Athens!

Posted on October 8th, 2007 in Quartet News |

The Brilliance of The Art of Fugue

Zlatko Stahuljak of the Croatian daily newspaper Vjesnik reviews the Quartet’s concert at the Osor Musical Evenings:

Brilliant performance of the Zagreb Guitar Quartet

Studious approach and playing experience

Read the full story in HTML or PDF (Croatian only).

Posted on August 21st, 2007 in Quartet News |

Blog posts about the Zagreb Guitar Quartet

Alan Coady’s Musical Blog:

Apart form those mentioned already, my personal favourites include the Zagreb Guitar Quartet. They seems to have captured the holy trinity of ingredients here (arrangement, performance and recording).

Youjustdontget.us with a short video clip from the quartet’s concert in Chicago.

The Way IT IS:

in the evening had a chance to hear a guitar concert by Zagreb Guitar Quartet.. a young croatian team.. they played pieces from Bach and other classical stuff. It was terrific. They had a wonderful synchoronization and their sound was good too.

Posted on May 20th, 2007 in Quartet News |

Zagreb Guitar Quartet, 13 May at Chicago Cultural Center, Preston Bradley Hall

Date: Sunday, May 13, 2007, 6 PM

Location: Chicago Cultural Center, Preston Bradley Hall, 78 East Washington Street
Admission is free.

Downloadable materials:
Concert program + press kit: in pdf, doc or OpenOffice (odt) format.
Print-quality jpg photo.
All bundled in one zip or tar.gz file

The Zagreb Guitar Quartet will perform a selection of contrapuncti from Bach’s The Art of the Fugue; two works dedicated to the ensemble by contemporary Croatian composers Miroslav Miletic and Tomislav Uhlik; Five Gypsy Dances by Spanish impressionist Joaquín Turina; Jewish songs originating from diverse areas such as Bosnia and Uzbekistan which bring a unique flavor to the Quartet’s repertoire; and pieces from two among the greatest jazz pianists of all time: Scott Joplin and Oscar Peterson. All of these compositions (except for the Croatian compositions) were arranged for four guitars by the Quartet’s founder, Ante Cagalj.

Ante Cagalj is one of the most renowned European guitar teachers; his work has influenced the careers of several generations of Croatian guitarists, among whom are the members of the Quartet and soloist Robert Belinic who is famous as the first guitarist to win the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York in 2002. Čagalj’s students have won more than 20 international and 50 national awards. Čagalj, a guitar composer himself, has transcribed a lot of music originally composed for organ, piano, harpsichord, violin and orchestra for guitar solo and guitar ensembles. All of these have assisted in creating and maintaining the unique image of the Croatian guitar school which is considered among Europe’s finest.

Zagreb Guitar Quartet is an experienced ensemble of young musicians - Tomislav Vasilj, Krunoslav Pehar, Melita Ivković and Mak Grgić - whose work has greatly contributed to the recognition of the quality of the Croatian guitar scene within the European framework. The Quartet has given a multitude of concerts in Croatia and in other countries, from Canada to India and from Russia to South Africa. It has successfully appeared at several prestigious international competitions, enriched the guitar quartet repertoire by premiering ten works dedicated to it by contemporary Croatian composers, and gave the world premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Art of the Fugue arranged for four guitars, receiving a rave review from the well-known magazine Classical Guitar editor, Colin Cooper: “one of the most extraordinary and vivid guitar experiences I can remember”.

Listen to the Zagreb Guitar Quartet at Last.FM or CdBaby

Posted on April 25th, 2007 in Quartet News |

Croatians strum on MacLeans Blog

View the backstage photos from the Quartet’s concert in Ottawa and learn how Mak’s strumming hand has longer nails.

Posted on March 26th, 2007 in Quartet News |

Guitar Masterclass in July

Ante Čagalj will hold a guitar masterclass from July 9-21 on the island of Korčula, Croatia. More info and application form on the official Upbeat International School website.

Posted on February 26th, 2007 in Čagalj News |

Zagreb Guitar Quartet’s Canadian Tour

Zagreb Guitar Quartet will perform three concerts in Canada:

1. Montreal, Tuesday January 16, 2007 at 19:30 - Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur, 100 rue Sherbrooke Est
2. Ottawa, Wednesday January 17, 2007 at 19:30 - National Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street
3. Toronto, Saturday January 20, 2007 at 20:00 - Church of the Redeemer, 162 Bloor Street West

Program /Programme:

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
The Art of the Fugue /L’Art de la Fugue BWV 1080 (selection /sélection)*
Contrapunctus 1, Contrapunctus 2, Contrapunctus 3, Contrapunctus 4

Tomislav Uhlik (1956)
Quartetto concertante
Allegro alla marcia, Larghetto, Allegro

Miroslav Miletić (1925)
Suite du bourdon
Preludium, Aria, Danza, Dialog, Finale

***

Adalbert Marković (1929)
Three Impressions of Osor /Trois impressions d’Osor
Morning /Matin, Cypresses at Noon /Cyprès à midi, Mistral

Joaquín Turina (1882-1949)
Cinq danses gitanes /Five Gypsy Dances, op. 84*
Fiesta de las calderas, Circulos ritmicos, Invocación, Danza ritmica, Seguiriya

Jewish Songs /Pièces Juives*
Hakotsrim (Harvesters /Moissonneurs)
Hora Ali (Round Dance /Danse)
Simhat Tora (Rejoicing of the Torah /Réjouissance de la Tora)
Shir hanoded (Wanderer’s Song /Chanson du vagabond)

Oscar Peterson* (1925)
Canadiana suite /Suite canadienne (selection /sélection)
The Laurentide Waltz
Land of the Misty Giants
Place St. Henri

(*arranged by / arrangé par: Ante Čagalj)

Posted on January 8th, 2007 in Quartet News |

Mak Grgić in Gorizia

Mak Grgić will perform a concert in Gorizia, Italy, on December 10th, 6.30 pm, at Musei Provinciali di Borgo Castello.

Program:
J S Bach: Partita no. 2, BWV 1004
A Diabelli: Sonata in A-major
—
A José: Sonata
M M Ponce: Marchita el Alma; Hace ocho meses; Estrellita
A Lauro: Seis por derecho

Posted on November 28th, 2006 in Other |

Bach, waltzes and gypsy music on guitars

“How do Bach, waltzes and gypsy music sound on guitars”.
Croatian daily newspaper Glas Istre on Quartet’s concert in Pazin. (Croatian only)

Posted on November 18th, 2006 in Quartet News |

Concert at the Mozart Festival Zagreb

Zagreb, Preradovićev trg (Cvjetni trg)
September 22nd - October 1st
All concerts begin at 7.30 pm. Movies begin at 8.30 pm

Program:

Friday, September 22
Concert: Sebastian Quartet
Movie: Vienna Opera Gala Concerto from 2005

Saturday, September 23
Concert: Zagreb Guitar Quartet
Movie: The Magic Flute Story (Royal Winnipeg Ballet)

Sunday, September 24
Concert: Zagreb Bassoon Quartet
Movie: Vienna Philharmonic in Salzburg (Riccardo Muti)

Monday, September 25
Concert: Tuba XXL Quartet
Movie: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Opera Zürich, Christoph König)

Tuesday, September 26
Concert: Donna Lee Saxophone Quartet
Movie: Lang Lang in Beijing

Wednesday, September 27
Concert: Borna Barišić (spinet), Ana Domančić (flute)
Movie: Spirits of Mozart (2006)

Thursday, September 28
Concert: Nives Andrijašević (flute), Biserka Krčelić (harp)
Movie: New Year Concert from Berlin (2005, Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra)

Friday, September 29
Concert: Karlo Slobodan Fio (violin), Milan Čunko (viola)
Movie: Don Giovanni (Peter Sellars; Craig Smith, Vienna Symphony Orchestra)

Saturday, September 30
Concert:Helena Potočnik (flute), Tajana Vukelić (harp)
Movie: Cecilia Bartoli sings Mozart

Sunday, October 1
Concert: Zagreb Wind Ensemble
Movie: Requiem (Herbert von Karajan; Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)

Posted on September 15th, 2006 in Quartet News |