The Quartet
TURN THE WORLD AROUND – European Guitar Quartet
After around 60 concerts in 16 countries, including major venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Buttenwieser Hall New York and Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, as well as festivals such as the Bergen Music Festival (N), the Ravinia Festival Chicago (USA) and the Monterrey Guitar Festival (MEX), the last sounds of the Danza tour were heard in the Calcutta Central Hall in India.
The celebrated quartet's new album "Fourtune" will be released in October 2024. In addition to music by Frank Zappa, Carlo Domeniconi and Harry Belafonte, it also contains music by Thomas Fellow, Pavel Steidl and Reentko Dirks – contemporary embraces of concert music, world music and jazz.
Two legends of the classical guitar meet two virtuosos of modern fingerstyle to create an innovative new sound for the instrument. Don't think of classical guitar – expect a new experience in concert guitar music.
"Birth of a new shining star in the concert sky".
This is what the Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten wrote after the ensemble's debut concert in Dresden in spring 2012. And indeed, the meeting of two world stars of the classical guitar with two
outstanding protagonists of the modern acoustic guitar scene was able to win over critics and audiences alike in no time at all.
Immediately after their debut, they received invitations to play at festivals all over the world, inspiring musicians such as Giora Feidman with their music. In 2017, they toured the USA, performing in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and at the famous Ravinia Festival in Chicago. In 2018, they gave their Russian debut at the world-famous Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, their first concert in Poland at the Silesian Guitar Autumn Festival and also made a guest appearance at the Hamburg Guitar Days. In 2019, they played another tour of the USA as well as concerts in India and Germany.
ZORAN DUKIC (CRO) can look back on winning more competitions in his time than any other guitarist in the world. He has led some of the most successful major classes at several European universities, currently at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and thrills audiences with his incredibly dynamic virtuosity. Whether as a soloist, in a duo with Aniello Desiderio or in various chamber music formations, he is undoubtedly one of the busiest concert guitarists in the world.
PAVEL STEIDL (CZ) has long been regarded as an icon of the instrument. His interpretations of classical-romantic music are unique and inimitably intense. After concerts all over the world and at the most important festivals, he has long since established himself as one of the best in his field. In 1982 he won one of the most important competitions of the time – Radio France in Paris and currently teaches at the Prague Academy of Music.
THOMAS FELLOW (D) is an acoustic guitarist of the first rank and has become one of the most successful and influential musical accompanists on this instrument, not least through his innovative playing in the duo "Friend 'n Fellow" (after almost 2000 concerts with Ray Charles, Luther Allison and Tommy Emmanuel, among others). As an author and composer, he is published by Schott Music, directs the pioneering "Acoustic Guitar" course at the Dresden Academy of Music and has performed in over 30 countries.
REENTKO DIRKS (D) has received international attention and recognition not only as an impressive guitarist and percussionist, but also as a composer whose works have won numerous prizes and have been performed in the program of the "Cirque de Soleil" and the Semperoper Dresden, among others. He has also gained recognition as the guitarist of the band MASAA (German Jazz Award 2021) and Ksenija Sidorova (Echo 2017).
These four musicians, each a highly respected name in the music
world, have set themselves the task of combining the concertante tradition of the instrument with the expressive, dynamic sounds of the modern age.