What projects does the Eos Guitar Quartet have for the future?
[David:] We are always looking for new music for our ensemble. Over the years, many compositions, sheet music and scores have been accumulated. Some of these compositions had already been published, others were new, and the composers sent them to us with the request to perform them. Since all four of us are very busy as musicians, we often lack time to deal with this material. The city of Zurich has now awarded us a prize that will allow us to take a timeout to devote ourselves to sift through all this material. The aim will be to find the best works to perform in a concert.
What advice would you give to young guitarists interested in chamber music?
[Julio:] I would suggest to young guitarists that, in addition to learning the individual parts of their ensemble repertoire, they learn about different ways of making music together with their peers. The practice of chamber music requires reacting spontaneously to different performance dimensions: to feel and understand what one’s colleagues are playing to communicate with them and the audience through the piece being performed.
Although classical music performance is recognised as a creative practice, the focus on perfect reproduction of scores does not always lead to musical training skills. Much of the creativity is lost due to this method.
Fortunately, the classical guitar has roots that draw from a myriad of musical styles, and these also open doors to musical aesthetics that broaden the approach to playing music. Therefore, experimentation with repertoire from different styles and periods provides an excellent opportunity to explore other ways of approaching ensemble practice: playing from memory, or improvising, arranging, working with composers, or even composing pieces. This helps expand the repertoire with varied and original contributions, providing a deeper understanding of the interactions proposed by each piece or style and allowing for fluid and meaningful communication when performing the music.
Website: eosguitarquartet.com
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