Dublin Guitar Quartet

The Dublin Guitar Quartet is an Irish music group that specialises in the performance of contemporary classical music, particularly music associated with minimalist composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt.

The group's core repertoire consists of transcriptions of works by these composers along with original compositions by Leo Brouwer, Kevin Volans and others. The group also regularly perform music specially written for them by Irish composers including Derek Ball, Donnacha Dennehy, Eric Sweeney, group member Brian Bolger and former member David Flynn.

The group formed in 2002 while founder members Brian Bolger, Patrick Brunnock, David Flynn and Redmond O'Toole were all studying at the Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama.

The Dublin Guitar Quartet have received much acclaim for bringing contemporary classical music to new audiences, they are as in demand at classical music events as they are at rock music events and have developed their act to include electric guitars as well as classical guitars. They have appeared on Irish national television and radio and performed at international classical guitar festivals and rock music festivals.

The quartet released their acclaimed debut album Deleted Pieces in 2005 on Greyslate Records. They are currently recording two albums for release in the coming year.

The bulk of their debut album is Brian Bolger's arrangement of White Man Sleeps by Kevin Volans. Volans had this to say about their work:

"I normally hate arrangements of my work," he says. "And they came along saying they'd already done it. I groaned. And then they came to play it for me. It was terrific. Somebody had already arranged it at one point for three guitars, and Chester's more or less turned it down. But the new one was really good, so Chester's, at my insistence, okayed it." - Kevin Volans Interview with Michael Dervan - Irish Times 2008.

In 2008 the quartet performed with Philip Glass in Louth Contemporary Music Society concert. This included a rare solo performance by Philip Glass of his Etudes. This concert took place on 17 July 2008 at 8pm in St. Patrick's, Dundalk. The Dublin Guitar Quartet performed arrangements of Glass's string quartets Mishima (mvts. III, IV, V) and Company. They were given an introduction by the composer:

“This is a very special arrangement. Arranging for guitars is a very tricky business and you really have to know what you are doing, so i have never done it, but Dave Flynn and Brian Bolger have made these arrangements and they’re really quite beautiful.” Philip Glass -2008

The Quartet have worked with Ireland's leading composers including, Kevin Volans, Donnacha Dennehy and Eric Sweeny. They have recently finished work on a Music Network funded recording of Irish compositions for guitar quartet. This includes works by Kevin Volans, Eric Sweeny and David Flynn.

On 1 May 2010 the Dublin Guitar Quartet performed Repentance by Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina. The piece included a solo cello part performed by Russian cellist Ivan Monighetti and a double bass part performed by Malachy Robinson. The concert was presented by LCMS at St. Peter's Church in Drogheda.

On Thursday the 5th of August 2010 the Dublin Guitar Quartet performed new works by the Spatial Music Collective at Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin's City Centre. They performed as an electric guitar quartet with guitar amplifiers positioned in the four corners of the venue. The concert included new works by Linda Buckley, Simon Cullen, Michael Flemming and Jonathan Nangle.

The DGQ are included on the latest LCMS release Path

. They perform their arrangement of Summa by Arvo Part. They received direction from the composer on the production of the arrangement and rehearsal process.