Miscelanea Guitar Quartet Bio
"The Miscelanea Guitar Quartet, based in Salzburg, is –as the name suggests– a testimony of artistic diversity, which goes beyond the boundaries of classical, contemporary and new music. In a playful manner, it presents a mixture of performance and brilliant musical craftsmanship to its audience.
It is especially the
virtuous interaction between dissonance and full sounds that the four musicians
feel most at home at. Therefore, even die-hard lovers of other musical genres will
be left both surprised and astonished. The rehearsed pieces of well-known composers
such as Ian Krouse, Dusan Bogdanovic, Leronardo Balada and Daniel Bernard
Roumain a.k.a. DBR and their interpretation by the quartet show a high degree of
musical poetry between flamenco, Balkans, Jazz-fusion, swing and minimal, which
have found their own, impressive voice within the guitars of this quartet.
This is represented not only by numerous prizes and participations in renowned international competitions and festivals such as the Boston GuitarFest, Wroclaw Guitar Festival or the Biennale in Salzburg, but also by collaborations with composers like Marios Joannou Elia, Mayako Kubo, Atanas Ourkouzounov and Augustin Castilla Avila, who all have composed pieces specifically for this guitar quartet.
Being a
feast for the senses as well as an unforgettable experience, this quartet seems to
have already found its place in the world of contemporary music.“
The Miscelanea Guitar Quartet was founded in April 2007, when four young guitatists met at the Mozarteum University, Salzburg (Austria). Drawing on the varied musical experience of their different cultures, the Miscelanea Guitar Quartet brings a fresh vision to the art of playing the classical guitar. With a strong sense of the terms ‘classical’ or ‘traditional’, their collaboration is geared towards reinterpreting familiar compositions,
working with contemporary musicians - many of whom compose works for them to play - and producing music that speaks to people living in the 21st century.
They have also attained creative relationships with other musicians and art-forms, such as dance or the visual arts.
During the 10 years of its existence, the quartet received constant guidance and support from renowned musicians such as Eliot Fisk, Ricardo Gallén, Marco Tamayo, Maria-Isabel Siewers de Pazur, Mathias Seidel, Martin Mumelter, Simone Fontanelli, Caroline Wiedman, Marino Formenti and Vittorio Ghielmi among others.
PAST PROJECTS AND FESTIVALS
The Miscelanea Guitar Quartet has given several concerts in Greece, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain (Iberic Chersonese and Canaria Islands), Poland and USA and has performed in international festivals, such as:
> The International Symposium for the „Internationale Gesellschaft für polyästhetische Erziehung”,
with a concert dedicated to the founder of the organisation, writer and ex-Dean of Mozarteum University, Wolfgang Roscher. 1st World Performance of “Staubzucker” by Marios Joannou Elia.
> „New Faces New Dances Festival” Performance of the Project „Musas y Musicas“, a Race for two Quartets + 1 (Austria, January 2008).
> „Salzburg Biennnale”, an International Festival of Contemporary Music,
Mozarteum. First world performance of “Atem Pause”, Mayako Kubo.
(Austria, March 2009)
> „8th Veria Guitar Festival“ (Greece, April 2009).
> „Synthermeia“ 2009. 3rd International Contemporary Music Festival &
Competition of Composition, Thessaloniki (Greece, April 2009);
> „Boston Guitar Fest 2010“ (USA, June 2010).
> „Wroclaw Guitar Festival“ (Poland, November 2010).
> „VielSaiten Festival Wels“ (Austria, November 2010).
> „Heraklion Summer Arts Festival 2012“ (Greece, August 2012).
> „2nd Hydra Classical Festival“ (Greece , August 2012).
> „Literaturfest Salzburg“ (Austria, May 2013)
> „Jazzit Musik Club Salzburg„ (Austria, May 2013)
> „Casa dei Mezzo Music Festival„ (Greece, June 2013)
> “Passauer Seiten” (Germany, April 2014)
>"Interlab Salzburg" (Austria, June 2015)
> "16. Internationales Gitarrenfestival Hersbruck" (Germany, August 2015)
>"TAKE THE A-TRAIN, Jazz Festival am Bahnhof" (Austria, Salzburg, September 2015)
>"17.Internationales Gitarrenfestival Hersbruck" (Germany, August 2016)
>"TAKE THE A-TRAIN #2, Music Festival am Bahnhof" (Austria, Salzburg, September 2016)
"GuitArt Festival Plovdiv 2016" (Bulgaria, October 2016)
>"Salzburg Guitar Fest" 1st Edition (Austria, May 2017)
PRIZES
The Miscelanea Guitar Quartet has been awarded with the:
> 1st Prize in the" International Competition for Interpretation of Contemporary Music 2008" (Salzburg, Austria, April 2008);
> Special Prize in the " International Competition for Interpretation of Contemporary Music 2008" (Salzburg, Austria, April 2008);
> 1st Prize in the “Savarez-Corelli’ Chamber Music Guitar Contest” (Salzburg, Austria,
June 2008);
> 2nd Prize in the “Savarez-Corelli’ Chamber Music Guitar Contest” (Salzburg, Austria,
June 2007);
> 2nd Prize in the “17th International Chamber Music Competition of Thessaloniki”
(Greece, December 2007);
>3rd Prize in the “18th International Chamber Music Competition of Thessaloniki”
(Greece, December 2008);
>3rd Prize in the “7th International Chamber Music Guitar Contest “Luys Milán”” (Ontinyent, Spain, December 2008)