Santa Fe Guitar Quartet
The Santa Fe Guitar Quartet (SFG4), from Santa Fe, Argentina, is an innovative guitar ensemble whose repertoire ranges from Baroque works to modern tangos. The group is strongly committed to the performance of Latin American music, having presented exciting new works to a large audience worldwide.
Their full sound is similar to a small string orchestra and was praised by the Washington Post as "big, warm, round and clear." The quartet's addition of the six-string contrabass along with the occasional use of other instruments and percussive effects broaden the range and sound palate of the typical guitar ensemble.
Combining the individual talents of two Argentineans and two North Americans, the group has been touring internationally since 1989, both in recital and with orchestra. The Santa Fe Guitar Quartet has performed for sold-out houses throughout North and South America including Lincoln Center and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
The Organization of American States, Partners of the Americas, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Community Concerts, Texas Commission for the Arts, and Allied Concerts have all sponsored the quartet in the United States. In 1997, the Argentinean Institute for Excellence (Instituto Argentino de la Excelencia) awarded the Santa Fe Guitar Quartet the prestigious First Prize of Excellence.
The ensemble's recordings continue to receive enthusiastic reviews throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Their latest recording, a collection of music representing the diverse expression of composers living throughout the Americas, further demonstrates that the Santa Fe Guitar Quartet is a living example of the merging of the Americas through music.
Christopher Dorsey - Guitar
Chris Dorsey was born in Byron, Georgia. He received his BA with John Pell at Belmont University and his MA with William Yelverton at Middle Tennessee State University. Under the direction of Frank Koonce, Chris received his Doctor of Musical Arts in guitar performance from Arizona State University in 2005. The title of his doctoral dissertation is Guarango como guitarra en tango [Awkward as a Guitar in the Tango]: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the Guitar in the Argentinean Tango.
In 2000, the ASU College of Fine Arts and the "Friends" of the ASU Center for Latin American Studies awarded Chris grants to study tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he studied with guitarist/composer Hugo Romero.
Chris has studied the Suzuki approach with Frank Longay and currently teaches music and guitar at his private studio in Phoenix, Arizona.
For more information, please visit
www.chrisdorseyguitar.comMariano Fontana - Guitar
Born in Rosario, province of Santa Fe. At the age of eleven was introduced to the traditional rhythms and harmonies of argentinian folk music and Beatles songs by his ancle "Caco" (who is an amatteur guitarist). Later on he took lessons on theory and solfeggio with Daniel López and on interpretation with Roberto Lovrincevich. During those years he accompanied poetry readers and appeared on different radio and TV shows as a soloist.
After having obtaining his degree in Law (though he never worked as a lawyer) he settled down in the city of Santa Fe to study chamber music and guitar with Néstor Ausqui. Ausqui, who was disciple of the great uruguayan maestro Abel Carlevaro, introduced him to Carlevaro's "Technic School" as well as Guido Santórsola's "Harmony applied to the guitar".
Miguel Piva - Guitar
Miguel Piva was born in Santa Fe, Argentina. In 1990, Piva was a first prize recipient in Argentina's Mozarteum Guitar Competition. He has developed a wide range of special effects and percussive techniques that are essential for projecting the special character of Latin American guitar music. Piva studied at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral and worked with Guido Santorsola in the analysis of guitar quartet repertory. He has also studied guitar technique and interpretation with maestros J. Manuel Echagüe and Eduardo Isaac. He has participated in numerous master classes worldwide and has performed on several occasions for the Uruguayan maestro Abel Carlevaro. Piva is also a devoted researcher of the music of Astor Piazzolla.
When not touring with the SFGQ, Piva conducts the Santa Fe Choir in performances of sacred and secular works.
Eric Slavin - Guitar
Eric Slavin was born on a United States Marine Base in Hiroshima, Japan. He is a bilingual (English and Spanish) professional guitarist and teacher. He comes from a musical family, and his grandmother, Elena Slavnaia was a celebrated soprano singer who sang at the Steinway Concert Hall in 1931. Eric's musical aspirations started as a child studying piano under the Hungarian pianist, Agi Rado. He later studied guitar and music most notably in Washington, D.C. under John Marlow, Jerzy Sapieyevski and Haig Mardirosian.
In 1988 he was an intern with Hector Villa-Lobos in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There he met world-class guitarist, Miguel Piva from Argentina and in 1989 he moved to Santa Fe, Argentina. In the ensuing years he had the privilege to study with the most famous Latin American pedagogues and composers such as Abel Carlevaro and Guido Santorsola. Slavin also became a founding member of the award-winning Santa Fe Guitar Quartet.
When he is not touring or recording, Eric Slavin is a much sought-after guitar teacher who in the last twenty years has taught numerous master classes, and has been on staff at both El Paso Community College and El Paso Conservatory of Music, El Paso, Texas. Slavin is a graduate of the American University, Washington, D.C. and has a Masters of Music from New Mexico State University.
Eric Slavin, in addition to his quartet work, performs as a solo guitarist and is available for concerts, special events, and fundraisers. His first solo CD Serenade (UR Music 2009) includes the music of Ralph Towner, Walter Heinze, Jose Luis Merlin and Philip Rosheger.
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