Aside from the super-talented Xuefei Yang visiting our shores in the not-too-distant future, we’re also in for a treat with some serious homegrown talent (homegrown in Melbourne, Australia that is) coming up this week and into October.

If you’re looking for some mid-week guitar action  I highly recommend heading along to the Melbourne Recital Centre to catch the third and last gig in the Melbourne Guitar Quartet’s 2014 series at the the MRC.

The Melbourne Guitar Quartet will perform a retrospective of the works of two of Australia’s most respected composers: Nigel Westlake and Robert Davidson.

Both have contributed superb works to guitar literature and this program celebrates their music with a selection of unique arrangements and original settings. Ambience, stillness and rhythmic drive feature heavily, using many different guitars (including steel string and dobro), percussion and Ron Murray on didgeridoo.

The gig commences in the Salon of the MRC at 6pm on Tuesday 16th September, and lasts for around 1 hour. You can have fantastic top-of-the-tree classical guitar action and still be home in time for tea!

In all seriousness though I highly recommend checking these guys out if you can – their musicality and tight sense of group musicianship is inspiring.

Tix can be purchased here: https://e.melbournerecital.com.au/booking/production/bestavailable/6289?performance=

So, there’s the Melbourne Guitar Quartet for you this week, and then there’s Xuefei Yang in a couple of weeks time, but what’s after that?!, I hear you say.

Well, fret no further, the wonderful Grigoryan Brothers along with the immensely talented American composer-guitarist Ralph Towner and equally talented Austrian composer-guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel are coming together to present what promises to be an awesome blend of jazz, contemporary classical and world music. A must see concert in you’re in Melbourne on Tuesday 28th October at say, oooh, 7pm

The Grigoryan Brothers, Towner and Muthspiel are all intent on expanding the guitar oeuvre, and have led vividly different forays into world, jazz, and modern classical music. This performance brings together the range and diversity of their outstanding talents in solo, duo and trio sets of pre-composed pieces, spontaneous composition and improvised mastery on a variety of guitars (baritone, 12- string, electric and classical), creating a unique aural soundscape.

Head over here for more info and bagsie yourself some tickets: http://www.melbournerecital.com.au/events/2014/grigoryan2/

Check out their collective playing  with these YouTube clips: