Grigoryan Brothers Guitar Duo

The Pharos Arts Foundation, with the support of the Australian High Commission, presents the Grigoryan Brothers guitar duo, who will appear in Cyprus for the first time as part of their European 2014 tour. Duos are common enough in the musical world, but sibling duos are a rare thing. Slava and Leonard Grigoryan are that rare thing. There is no rivalry, only the bonds of family and a love of music. Join them for a journey of musical exploration, which will include excerpts from their new release The Seasons (based on Tchaikovsky’s work). Wednesday 4 June 2014, at The Shoe Factory, Nicosia / 8:30pm

GRIGORYAN BROTHERS / GUITAR DUO
Duos are common enough in the musical world, but sibling duos are a rare thing. Slava and Leonard Grigoryan are that rare thing. There is no rivalry, only the bonds of family and a love of music.

Since their first acclaimed Australian tour in 2002, Slava and Leonard have astounded audiences worldwide with their guitar virtuosity. They have toured extensively throughout Australia and overseas: to Europe, the United States, Britain, Asia, South Africa and the Middle East. When not on stage they are in the studio, having released five duo albums – the most recent The Seasons in 2012 – all of which have been nominated for ARIA awards.

The brothers also have performed with symphony orchestras and at international festivals in Australia and Europe. From having appeared at numerous festivals, Slava has taken on the role of giving form to a festival with his appointment as Artistic Director of the 2010 Adelaide International Guitar Festival.

Although regarded as Australia’s finest guitar duo performing much of the instrument’s standard classical repertoire, their passion is to expand their horizons through new arrangements, their own compositions and commissions. This ambition can be heard as the brothers take the guitar into genres such as Latin, jazz, folk and contemporary music.

There are no boundaries, only new frontiers to cross. Fuelling this thirst for diversity is the brothers’ sheer joy of improvisation. In concert, mix it all together and you have a dimension to guitar-playing rarely seen in the musical world. These qualities are evident not only in their own concerts, but in other projects in which they are involved: Slava and Leonard are one half of ‘Band of Brothers’, along with Joseph and James Tawadros. The quartet’s repertoire crosses cultural and stylistic barriers, from world music, to jazz, and classical. Slava is also a member of the guitar trio MGT which includes two giants of the jazz world, Wolfgang Muthspiel and Ralph Towner. Leonard is composer and performer in the Australian contemporary jazz ensemble FGHR.

When Slava and Leonard Grigoryan pick up their guitars, they also step outside the norm. In doing so they never compromise their musical integrity, nor the integrity of the music. Their numerous and devoted fans know this, and applaud them and their music.

The Seasons
The Grigoryan Brothers’ new release The Seasons, with its twelve movements characterising the twelve months of the year, was originally written for solo piano by the iconic Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. These mini-melodic showpieces were written around the time Tchaikovsky was composing the ballet Swan Lake and were commissioned as monthly instalments for readers of the music magazine Nouvellist in 1876. The Seasons has been arranged for two guitars by the father of Slava and Leonard, Edward. The transition of a piece from solo piano to guitar duo is a rare occurrence with Russian piano music and this arrangement is nothing short of stunning, retaining what makes it a masterpiece, while presenting it in a totally different setting and giving it a new voice.

Programme:
Slava Grigoryan: Fantasy on a Theme by William Lawes
Piotr I. Tchaikovsky: Selections from ‘The Seasons’
Astor Piazzolla: Movement 1 & 2 from ‘Tango Suite’
Leonard Grigoryan: This Time
Nigel Westlake: Mosstrooper Peak (Sonata for Two Guitars)
William Lovelady: Incantation Νo.2
Ralph Towner: Duende
Radamés Gnattali: Ernesto Nazareth
Radamés Gnattali: Chiquinha Gonzaga

For more information: www.pharosartsfoundation.org
Email: [email protected] / Tel: +357 22663871

Tickets: €15 Adults / €10 Members of the Foundation, Concessions, Students

Box Office: Tel. 7000-9304 (daily 9.30-11.30am) /www.pharostickets.org