A Quiet Moment
Compact Disc
[AQM]

Ludwig van Beethoven (pronounced [ˈbeː.to.vən]) (baptized December 17, 1770[1] – March 26, 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of history's greatest composers, and was the predominant figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music. His reputation and genius have inspired—and in many cases intimidated—ensuing generations of composers, musicians, and audiences.

Beethoven's first music teacher was his father, a musician in the Electoral court at Bonn who was apparently a harsh and unpredictable instructor. Johann would often come home from a bar in the middle of the night and pull young Ludwig out of bed to play for him and his friend. Beethoven's talent was recognized at a very early age. His first important teacher was Christian Gottlob Neefe. In 1787 young Beethoven traveled to Vienna for the first time, where he may have met and played for Mozart. He was forced to return home because his mother was dying of tuberculosis. Beethoven's mother died when he was 16, and for several years he was responsible for raising his two younger brothers because of his father's worsening alcoholism.

Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792, where he studied for a time with Joseph Haydn in lieu of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who had died the previous year. He received additional instruction from Johan Georg Albrechtsberger (Vienna's preeminent counterpoint instructor) and Antonio Salieri. Beethoven immediately established a reputation as a piano virtuoso. His first works with opus numbers, the three piano trios, appeared in 1795. He settled into the career pattern he would follow for the remainder of his life: rather than working for the church or a noble court (as most composers before him had done), he supported himself through a combination of annual stipends or single gifts from members of the aristocracy, income from subscription concerts, concerts, and lessons, and sales of his works.

Beethoven was much taken by the ideals of the Enlightenment and by the growing Romanticism in Europe. He initially dedicated his third symphony, the Eroica (Italian for "heroic"), to Napoleon in the belief that the general would sustain the democratic and republican ideals of the French Revolution, but in 1804 crossed out Napoleon's name on the title page upon which he had written a dedication to him, as Napoleon's imperial ambitions became clear, renamed the symphony as the "Sinfonia Eroica, composta per festeggiare il sovvenire di un grand Uomo", or in English, "composed to celebrate the memory of a great man". The fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony features an elaborate choral setting of Schiller's Ode An die Freude ("Ode To Joy"), an optimistic hymn championing the brotherhood of humanity.

Andrew York is one of today's most visible and innovative classical guitar composers, and a member of the GRAMMY winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Andrew"s discography includes California Breeze, a new recording for Sony Japan, three solo CD's for the GSP label, ten CD's with the LAGQ on Delos, Sony and Telarc labels, as well as inclusions on numerous compilation recordings. York's compositions have also been recorded by guitar luminaries John Williams, Christopher Parkening, Scott Tennant and William Kanengiser. As a published composer, York's works appear in print worldwide through Alfred Publications, Hal Leonard, Mel Bay Publications, Guitar Solo Publications, Doberman-Yppan in Canada, Ricordi in London, and in Japan through Gendai and Rittor Music.

Andrew is a virtuoso classical and jazz guitarist; an extremely rare combination. As a classical guitarist, Andrew received a grant from the Del Amo Foundation for Study in Spain, and as a jazz player studied with Joe Diorio and Lenny Breau. Andrew received his Master of Music degree from University of Southern California, and is the only USC graduate in the school's history to twice receive the Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award in 1997 as a member of LAGQ and in 2003 as the sole recipient.

Born in Villarreal, Spain, Francisco Tarrega fell into an irrigation channel when he was young, which rendered him nearly blind. Partially due to this accident, the family moved to Castellon and enrolled him in music classes. He entered the Madrid Conservatory in 1874, under the sponsorship of a wealthy merchant named Antonio Canesa, where he studied composition under Emilio Arrieta. By the end of the 1870s, he was teaching the guitar and giving regular concerts. A virtuoso on his instrument, he was known as the "Sarasate of the guitar". He later settled in Barcelona, and died there in 1909.

Russell Donnellon Solo Guitarist - Russell Donnellon is an innovative and versatile performer whose style reflects the wide scope of his influences. He joins the classical guitar (its technique, repertoire, counterpoint and sonic palette) with the harmonic and improvisational impulse of jazz. Romantic, deeply textured, vividly evocative and heartwarming, it is supported by the rhythms of Brazil, the Caribbean, Spain, the Gypsies, and American Pop, Country, Blues, Jazz and Gospel. Russell pushes the envelope of the orchestral and emotional potential of the solo guitar.

A headliner at the 2002 New York Guitar Festival, (an international roster of stringed instrument players) Russell received fine reviews from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. As a headliner at the 2003 Montreal Jazz Festival, Russell received an overwhelming reception and reviews. In 2004, Russell was a part of the “Guitar Harvest” compilation (a program of master guitarists) as a benefit for public school music education. He has produced 3 CDs of original solo guitar music and two CDs of familiar classics.

At age ten, Russell began performing popular music in the New York City area. He spent his high school years playing gospel music at churches and festivals in the northeast. His university studies were in classical composition, jazz and philosophy. They were augmented by his interest in traditional musics from around the world. Russell soon found himself traveling to Spain, South America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and Africa where he absorbed the music at its source.

Russell moved to California in the 80s and abandoned ensemble playing altogether. Instead he focused on playing solo nylon-stringed guitar. In love with the rich and gentle tones of the Spanish guitar, he immersed himself in Flamenco and Brazilian music, performing at Latin clubs and jazz festivals in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In the late 80s, Russell began experimenting with busking (playing for donations and CD sales) on the New York City streets, Central Park, and at art fairs in the New York area.

Russell began touring nationally in the 90s and is currently on tour eight months per year performing concerts, educational workshops, private engagements and entertaining on the art fair circuit.

The challenge of attracting and maintaining an audience in these environments teaches an artist about the value of the listener. The sale of recordings at performances is direct, and Russell relishes the personal communion with people. In this manner he hopes to be true to both himself and his audience.

Russell loves to tap into the energy of the people as a source of inspiration for the improvisation at hand. He engages them in a lively emotional dialogue, pulling at the threads of common human experience. Few performers are more comfortable with their audience and few listeners are able to resist the message of this dynamic performer.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Bach is considered by many to have been the greatest composer in the history of western music. Bach’s main achievement lies in his synthesis and advanced development of the primary contrapuntal idiom of the late Baroque, and in the basic tunefulness of his thematic material. He is often regarded as one of the pinnacle geniuses of western civilization. Bach spent the height of his working life in a Lutheran church position in Leipzig, as both organist and music director. Much of his music is overtly religious, while many of his secular works admit religious interpretations on some levels. His large output of organ music is considered to be the greatest legacy of compositions for the instrument, and is the measure by which all later efforts are judged. His other solo keyboard music is held in equally high esteem, especially for its exploration of the strictly contrapuntal fugue; his 48 Preludes & Fugues (The Well-Tempered Clavier) are still the primary means by which these forms are taught.

Ralph Towner is an American acoustic guitarist. He also plays piano, synthesizer, and trumpet.

Born in 1940 in Chehalis, Washington, Towner is one of the most diversely talented musicians of the past half-century, and has made notable recordings of jazz, classical music, folk music, and world music. He began his career as a conservatory-trained classical guitarist, then joined world music pioneer Paul Winter's "Consort" ensemble in the late 1960s. Along with bandmates Paul McCandless, Glen Moore, and Collin Walcott, Towner left the Winter Consort in 1970 to form the group Oregon, which over the course of the 1970s issued a number of highly influential records mixing folk music, Indian classical forms, and avant-garde jazz-influenced free improvisation. At the same time, Towner began a longstanding relationship with the influential ECM record label, which has released virtually all of his non-Oregon recordings since his 1972 debut as a leader Trios/Solos. Towner has also made numerous appearances as a sideman, perhaps most famously on jazz fusion heavyweights Weather Report's 1972 album I Sing the Body Electric.

Unlike most jazz guitarists, Towner eschews amplification, using only 6-string nylon-string and 12-string steel-string guitars. As a result, he tends to avoid high-volume musical environments, preferring small groups of mostly acoustic instruments that emphasize dynamics and group interplay. Both with Oregon and as a solo artist, Towner has made significant use of overdubbing, allowing him to play piano (or synthesizer) and guitar on the same track; his most notable use of the technique came on his 1974 album Diary, in which he plays guitar-piano duets with himself on most of the album's 8 tracks. In the 1980s, Towner began using the Prophet V synthesizer fairly extensively, but has since deemphasized his synthesizer and piano playing in favor of guitar.

Towner now lives in Rome, Italy.

Tarrega/ Skanson
Born in Villarreal, Spain, Francisco Tarrega fell into an irrigation channel when he was young, which rendered him nearly blind. Partially due to this accident, the family moved to Castellon and enrolled him in music classes. He entered the Madrid Conservatory in 1874, under the sponsorship of a wealthy merchant named Antonio Canesa, where he studied composition under Emilio Arrieta. By the end of the 1870s, he was teaching the guitar and giving regular concerts. A virtuoso on his instrument, he was known as the "Sarasate of the guitar". He later settled in Barcelona, and died there in 1909.

Darren Curtis Skanson was born in 1967 to a farm/ teaching family in Minnesota. Encouraged in music from a young age, Skanson sang and played instruments throughout his grade scool years. At 13 he took his first guitar lessson and began a partnership with the instrument that has produced a wide variety of music. Most known for his claasical guitar compositions and arrangements, Skanson continues to record, compose and perform out of his Denver, Colorado base. His discograhpy currently includes 10 compact discs of arrangements and original work with over 200 pieces to his credit.

Darren Curtis Skanson (1967 to present) American composer. Encouraged in music from a young age, Skanson began singing, playing instruments, and composing as early as he can remember. At 13 he took his first classical guitar lesson and began a partnership with the classical guitar that has produced a wide variety of music. After an outstanding collegiate career studying classical guitar, composition, and recording science, Darren spent the early part of the 1990's touring and composing for both the progressive band Mata Hari and violinist Malcolm Watson. Embarking on his solo career in 1995, his composition output exploded with works for classical guitar, acoustic fingerstyle guitar, 12 string guitar, cello, and violin. Skanson is known mostly for his classical guitar compositions and arrangements of Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, and other classical composers. Skanson continues to record, compose and perform out of his Denver, Colorado base. His discography currently includes 10 compact discs of classical guitar arrangements and original work with over 200 pieces to his credit. As well as playing solo, he performs with his trio of classical guitar, violin, and cello aptly named The Skanson String Trio.

Stanley Myers: Noted composer for over 60 British and American films who scored his first movie, "The Kaleidoscope," in 1966. In addition to scoring, Myers conducted and wrote songs for these numerous film projects, many of them highlights of post-war British cinema. They include "Ulysses" (1967), Michael Powell's "Age of Consent" (1969), and most of the later films of Nicholas Roeg and Stephen Frears, including "Insignificance" (1985) and "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid" (1987). Most famous for his theme for "The Deerhunter" (1978), Myers had a tremendously productive work life that encompassed assignments ranging from the somber demands of Volker Schlondorff's "Der Fangschuss/The Coup de Grace" (1976) and Jerzy Skolimoskwi's "Moonlighting" (1982) to the lighter tones of the flushed Anglo comedy "Wish You Were Here" (1987).

David Oakes, adjunct assistant professor, studio/jazz guitar, received a bachelor of music degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts. He also studied classical guitar with Pepe Romero, flamenco guitar with Juan Serrano and jazz guitar with Ted Greene and Ron Eschete. Mr. Oakes premiered the first recording of the Bayside Concerto for Guitar and Strings by third stream composer George Roumanis. In addition, he has worked as a studio musician, recording both television and film projects for NBC and Paramount Studios. Mr. Oakes' first book, Music Reading for Guitar, published by Hal Leonard Corporation, is a best selling method book for guitar.