Saturday, December 9, 2017 – 10:30 am
Fillmore Hall
Frost School of Music
University of Miami

Formed in 2008, the Texas Guitar Quartet has been hailed as “Impeccable in every respect” by Classical Guitar Magazine. Throughout the U.S. and from Central America to Spain, audiences have embraced the quartet for their daring programs, dazzling virtuosity and joyful music making. Recent highlights include performances for the Encuentro Internacional de Guitarra 2016 (Nicaragua), Victoria Bach Festival, Guitar Foundation of America Convention, Festival Internacional del Noreste (Mexico), and Texas Music Festival. During the summer of 2015, the quartet presented a series of concerts in historic cathedrals along the Camino de Santiago, Spain.

The TxGQ recently premiered a landmark new work by lauded American composer Nico Muhly in collaboration with Grammy-winning chamber choir Conspirare, Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and the Dublin Guitar Quartet. The group continues to push the boundaries of the guitar quartet medium by premiering new works by Joseph Williams II, Peter Lieuwen, Mark Anthony Cruz and John Truitt and creating daring arrangements of orchestral works by Mozart, Beethoven and Ravel.

Red, the quartet’s first album, was released to critical acclaim and was praised by Guitar International as a “tremendous accomplishment for the classical guitar… the TxGQ perform with virtuosity, clarity, balance, and a refined character which will no doubt help to establish them as one of today’s leading guitar quartets.” Their upcoming album, Icon, features the complete 40th Symphony by Mozart and will be released in 2017.

The TxGQ has been featured in concertos with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra (Maestro Marcelo Bussiki), Camerata Bach and Nicaraguan Youth Symphony (Maestro César Bermúdez Rodriguez), Sam Houston State University Symphony Orchestra (Maestro Zachary Carretin) and the Abilene Philharmonic (Maestro David Itkin). They have been part of the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Artist Roster since 2010. The TxGQ is Isaac Bustos, Jonathan Dotson, Jay Kacherski, and Alejandro Montiel.

Texas Guitar Quartet

Isaac Bustos

bustosguitarist.com
A top prize-winner in thirteen international guitar competitions, Isaac enjoys an extensive performing career that has taken him all over the world.
Isaac holds a Bachelor of Music degree in guitar performance from the University of New Hampshire, where he was the only guitarist to ever hold a full scholarship, a Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin where he also completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree under the tutelage of world-renowned American guitarist Adam Holzman.

Dr. Bustos is on faculty at Texas A&M University Department of Performance Studies where he is Director of Guitar Studies. Additionally, Isaac directs the TAMU International Guitar Symposium & Competition.

Jonathan Dotson

jonathandotson.com
A relentless and passionate ambassador for the classical guitar, Dotson has concertized in venues ranging from nightclubs in Austin, TX, to gothic cathedrals in Palencia, Spain. Jon holds multiple degrees in guitar performance from Kennesaw State University with Mary Akerman, and the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his doctorate under Adam Holzman. During this time, Dotson claimed top prizes at several international competitions.

Dr. Dotson has taught for the renowned guitar program of the University of Texas at Brownsville alongside Michael Quantz, and is presently teaching at Texas Southmost College in Brownsville, TX.

Alejandro Montiel

Described by Soundboard Magazine as a “flawless musician, filled to the brim with polished technique,” guitarist Alejandro Montiel enjoys a performing career that has taken him throughout the United States, Mexico, Central America, and Europe. He holds graduate degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Texas at Austin.

In addition to performing, arranging and recording, Dr. Montiel directs the guitar programs at Sam Houston State University and Lone Star College. Alejandro resides in Houston with his family.

Jay Kacherski

“Virtuosismo” and “technical dominance” are the words used by the press to describe American guitarist and Fulbright scholar Dr. Jay Kacherski. A native of New York, Kacherski has given solo and ensemble performances throughout the United States and Mexico including a highly praised performance of Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Lake Charles Symphony.

Dr. Kacherski is on the guitar faculty at Loyola University, the University of New Orleans, and McNeese State University, as well as NOCCA, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. He is also an Associate Editor for Soundboard Magazine, the director of the Francis G. Bulber Youth Orchestra Guitar Program, a reviewer for the American String Teacher Journal, and Associate Artistic Director of the “Classical Minds” International Guitar Festival in Houston, Texas.