Rite Of Summer Music Festival Presents Dublin Guitar Quartet, July 22

Rite of Summer Music Festival's twelfth stellar season kicks off on Saturday, July 22nd at 1pm and 3pm at Nolan Park on Governors Island with Irish ensemble Dublin Guitar Quartet. The program will feature works by Bryce Dessner, Marc Mellits, Wojciech Kilar, Gyorgy Ligeti and Philip Glass. This marks the first time an esteemed touring global ensemble will be presented by Rite of Summer. Dublin Guitar Quartet's international touring is supported by Culture Ireland. In a locale The New York Times has called a “Playground for the Arts,” the aim of the Festival is simple: to present the highest quality live performances, and to bring free contemporary classical music to as many people as possible in a relaxed, fun, outdoor setting. 

Season 12 closes with PUBLIQuartet on Friday, August 25th performing selections from their GRAMMY-nominated album, What is American, featuring an amalgamation of styles that trace their roots to American Indigenous and Black music. The title is intended as both a question and a statement: the question interrogates our nation's complex musical traditions, while the statement projects traditions forward. Works will be announced from the stage.

Rite of Summer shows will be presented twice the same day: 1pm and 3pm for the July 22nd concerts in Nolan Park; 5pm and 7pm at Castle Williams for the August 25th concerts. Audiences should feel free to walk by, stop and listen, lay down a picnic blanket and relax, eat, mingle, and take in these engaging live performances.    

Governors Island is open daily year-round from 7am to 6pm. Ferries operated by the Trust for Governors Island run daily from the Battery Maritime Building, located at 10 South Street in Lower Manhattan. Trust-operated ferries are always free for kids 12 and under, seniors 65 and up, IDNYC holders, residents of NYCHA housing, current and former military servicemembers, Governors Island members, and for everyone on weekends before noon. Round-trip ferry tickets for adults are $3 at all other times. Visit govisland.org/ferry for schedules and ticket information. NYC Ferry provides additional daily service to Governors Island—for NYC Ferry schedules, pricing and more information, visit https://ferry.nyc. 

For more information, visit www.riteofsummer.com. Digital Photos are available upon request.   

Described as a "quartet with a difference" by the Irish Times, Dublin Guitar Quartet is the first classical guitar quartet entirely devoted to new music. Since its formation at the Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama, the DGQ has worked to expand the limited repertoire by commissioning new works and adapting contemporary works from outside of the guitar repertoire. 

With the help of eight and eleven-string guitars the quartet has created an original catalogue of arrangements by composers such Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Arvo Part and Gyorgy Ligeti. The DGQ's work has brought the attention of some of the world's leading composers. This includes an album release on Philip Glass's Orange Mountain Music label and a new 55-minute commission by Michael Gordon (NY). In April 2015, the quartet performed alongside the Grammy award-winning LA Guitar Quartet, Conspirare and Texas Guitar Quartet in a premiere of How Little You Are for three guitar quartets and choir by Nico Muhly in Austin, Texas. In 2019 DGQ performed their own reduction of this work in a US tour in collaboration with vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth. The quartet have also premiered a commission by Chicago-based composer Marc Mellits in Syracuse, NY in March of 2016.

In 2010 the quartet were involved in a special performance of Repentance for cello, guitars and double bass by celebrated Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina. The composer was present as they joined the Russian cellist Ivan Monighetti in a concert in St. Peter's Church, Drogheda. The DGQ's recording of this work was released on the LCMS label in March 2012. In 2008, the quartet was honored to share the stage with legendary American composer Philip Glass in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dundalk. Their recording of these transcriptions reached No.8 on the US iTunes classical charts in 2014. 

Other performance highlights include a four-city tour of Colombia and nine tours of North America. The DGQ have also performed at the prestigious chamber music venue, Wigmore Hall in London and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. They have also performed in many of the leading venues in the US including The Philips Collection Washington, Celebrity Series Boston, Subculture, Symphony Space, Yale University, and the Lincoln Center in New York. In 2019 the quartet performed as one of the jury selected ensembles at Classical Next, Rotterdam. 

The DGQ are developing the electric side of their guitar quartet repertoire with works like Amplified a recent commission for electric guitar quartet by Michael Gordon. This was premiered at the David Lang/Bang on a Can curated festival of new music at the National Concert Hall, Dublin in February 2015. The US premiere took place at four-night residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in December 2016. 

The Dublin Guitar Quartet is supported by Culture Ireland and Music Network (IRL).       Photo: David Middleton

https://www.dublinguitarquartet.com

Members:
Brian Bolger
Pat Brunnock
Chien Buggle
Tomas O'Durcain 

Program:

Bryce Dessner: Aheym
MARC MELLITS: Titan - (Selected Movements TBC)
WOJCIECH KILAR: Orawa
GYORGY LIGETI: Inaktelki nóták
Philip Glass: Piano Etudes No. 2, 9 & 20