Los Angeles Guitar Quartet January 15, 2011

San Francisco Performances brings the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet to the Herbst Theatre with a whimsical and virtuosic program spanning "Music from the Time of Cervantes" (a medley of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish guitar works), famous opera tunes (from Carmen and Barber of Seville) and Leo Brouwer.

The concert is part of SF Performances' Guitar Series, launched in October by John Williams and continuing in the spring with Duo Melis and David Russell. The LAGQ's vibrant repertoire explores the guitar's range and history through Latin, African, Far East, Irish and Folk music. The Jan. 15 program expands on this multidisciplinary concert approach.

The arrangements of the Barber of Seville overture and Carmen arias riff on the operas' Spanish flair, and are followed by a setting of Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite, which mirrors the Renaissance through the twentieth-century. And "Music from the Time of Cervantes"-a project launched with British actor and comedian (and member of Monty Python) John Cleese, sweeps through madrigals, epic war songs and picaresque scenes from the world Don Quixote re-envisioned. The great Ian Krouse and Leo Brouwer are showcased through Krouse's probing Antique Suite and Brouwer's sensitive, lush Cuban Landscape with Rain, part of his "Landscape" series.

Now in its thirtieth anniversary year, the Grammy Award-winning guitar troupe continues ushering new audiences into the full range and warmth of its repertoire. Recent projects have included the 2007 album release on Telarc, LAGQ Brazil, featuring former SF Performances artist-in-residence Luciana Souza, as well as the latest recording (2010) of Rodrigo's Concierto Andaluz, paired with Sergio Assad's Interchange, written for them. The group maintains its dedication to transcribing masterworks while also commissioning new.

Tickets to the LAGQ's Jan. 15 concert at 8pm are $45, $38 and $30. For more information, call (415) 392-2545 or visit sfperformances.org.

Official Website: http://www.sfperformances.org