MVCMA - Tabernacle Concert - Robert Sims and the Georgia Guitar Quartet

At The Tabernacle

Robert Sims
and the
Georgia Guitar Quartet

RECITAL
Sunday, July 6, 2008
7:30 p.m.

Free Will Offering

Robert Sims, Gold Medal winner of the American Traditions Competition, has been hailed by critics for his rich tone, energetic performance, and convincing state presence. Mr. Sims has been highly praised for his movoing interpretations of African American spirituals, and has given numerous recitals of them throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He recently made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall, and has performed in concert at the Lincoln Center in New York, the Smithsonian Institution, the Los Angeles African American Museum, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, the Chicago Historical Society, the Latour de France International Music Festival, and the celebrated American Church in Paris. Under the auspices of the Community Concerts and Live On Stage Series, Sims has performed more than 150 recitals throughout the United States.

The Georgia Guitar Quartet has emerged as an exciting new voice in today's chamber music scene. These four young men from the American South deliver a high-energy blend of breathtaking virtuosity and imaginative programming while taking an adventurous approach to classical music. Borrowing from both the past and present, the GGQ consistently draw inspiration from the ever-evolving palette of music that has influenced them: classical masters such as Bach and Brahms, experimentalists in the vein of Cage, Bartók and Stockhausen, and contemporary rock icons like Radiohead and Led Zeppelin. Audiences at a GGQ concert experience an exciting musical journey through an expansive array of genres, continents, and time periods. Rousing Irish folk music and late Impressionistic masterpieces share the stage, while the sublime beauty of Chopin rubs shoulders with ground-breaking contemporary works. Accomplished composers themselves, the Quartet frequently incorporate their own unique works into their increasingly dynamic concert program. The incredible range and interactive spontaneity of a performance by the GGQ continually leaves audiences with something to remember, resulting in a thrilling new way to experience chamber music in the 21st century.