VITAMIN STRING QUARTET-"rock n' roll attitude to classical technique"

The break out Vitamin String Quartet ingeniously transforms today’s most popular songs and styles with the beauty and intensity of classical string instrumentation.  A collaboration for classical and pop audiences alike.

The Vitamin String Quartet puts a classical spin on many popular genres of pop, punk, and metal and is widely known for its tributes to cutting-edge rock acts. VSQ’s innovative approach and dedication to seeking out great material highlights just how distinctive the string quartet is.

"Vitamin String Quartet is about applying rock n' roll attitude to classical technique," says Tom Tally, a violinist and arranger who has performed on and produced over thirty-five Vitamin String Quartet albums, which is one reason VSQ can count renowned film composer Danny Elfman, members of Tool, Deftones, The Killers, and Underoath as fans.

Disney has even invited VSQ to contribute to a track to the second all-star tribute to Tim Burton"s The Nightmare Before Christmas, on which the films original score was reinterpreted by bands like Tiger Army, All-American Rejects, Plain White Ts, and DeVotchKa. Their music has been heard in film and on television, most notably on the finale of the programme, So You Think You Can Dance.  

After years of releasing albums exploring the musical terrain of one great artist, VSQ is branching out with a new collection of covers and original songs that highlight their own unique contributions to their musical field. 

Their classical string arrangements have made it possible for contemporary rock, alternative and indie covers to be a part of wedding ceremonies and evidently very popular among the event sector.

Songs:                                                                                                                                                                                                       Clubbed to death and Furious Angels by Rob Dougan                                                                                                                         Chasing Cars and Run- Snow Patrol                                                                                                                                           Supermassive Black Hole, Sunburn, Time is running out, Knights of Cydonia- Muse                                                                   Clocks, Yellow, Viva La Vida- Coldplay                                                                                                                                                  Misery Business, Hallelujah- Paramore                                                                                                                                                  Numb- Linkin park                                                                                                                                                                                    Paparazzi, Alejando, Poker Face- Lady Gaga                                                                                                                                        Smooth Criminal- Michael Jackson

LUDOVICO EINAUDI, "The solo collaborator of minimalism, classical and contemporary music"

“The music of composer/pianist Ludovico Einaudi has been described as minimalist, classical, ambient, contemporary, welcoming the sound of stillness in a hectic world.”

Einaudiís music began to assume its own unmistakeable character towards the end of the 1980s, as he absorbed elements derived from popular music. Around this time he first became involved in collaborative ventures in theatre, video and dance. 

The album Le onde was a turning point in Ludovico Einaudís career as it was his first real work as a soloist.

In 2001 I Giorni was released consisting a dozen pieces for solo piano, composed as deliberate snapshots of the creativity of a musician who has achieved full freedom of expression.  This was the genesis of an album involving a long process of reflection. 

Einaudi: “When I compose, I need to improvise, but I also meditate for a long time on what I am writing. I progress on two apparently antithetical levels: I create a great diversity of styles then, at a later stage, I review it all with a rational ear.” The result was yet another performance of great emotional intensity, quite unconnected with the concept of a sound track.  Five years after Le onde, I again decided to create a solo work for piano; after experimenting with various things, I wanted to get back to the solitary dimension. It is a kind of suite of pieces in the form of an instrumental song. Although each piece has a meaning of its own, they are linked by a general idea of musical accountability and by melodic, thematic and harmonic references.” 

Einaudi aims to find a direct channel of communication with the public, be at the centre of the magic and emotion that can be created only during a live performance in gaining an immediate relationship with both music and audience. 

Ludovico Einaudi also has composed music for the cinema. He began with two films made by Michele Sordillo: Da qualche parte in citt (1994) and Acquario (1996), and continued in 1998 with Treno di panna, the only film made by Andrea De Carlo. In the same year, he composed the sound track for Giorni dispari by Dominick Tambasco, while some extracts from Le onde were included in Aprile by Nanni Moretti.

Einaudi latest album, Una Mattina, was released in 2004 for Decca.

I would have to say my favourite pieces are: Nightbook, Divenire, and Nuvole Bianche.

This is Einaudi introducing his recent release Nightbook:

Link to his website: http://www.einaudiwebsite.com/ 

GUILLEMOTS...orchestral big beat pop

Any band that features both a classically-trained double bass player and Brazilian former death-metal guitarist, and whose frontman has adopted the surname of Dangerfield, might reasonably have eccentricity expected of them. And so it is with pop quartet Guillemots. Theirs is a fulsome and extravagant, love-filled sound borne aloft on summer's breeziness, swollen with casual grandeur and baroque instrumental flourishes.