Georgia Guitar Quartet: classical marketing done right

One of the worst fine arts promotions I ever saw was a PBS spot that showed a string quartet finishing up a piece, and the white-tie-and-tailed musicians getting up and slamming their instruments into the stage floor as if they were Pete Townshend.

The tagline was something like, “Be more passionate,” but my reaction and the reaction of others I knew was, “That looks really stupid.”

But we got the idea: Someone was trying to make classical music look hip by having the musicians act like rock stars. Someone was trying way too hard. And that’s not uncommon in a world where classical music plays sixth or seventh fiddle to the pop music genres that have emerged in the past 50 years.

The most impressive promotions are not the ones in which the musicians or their PR people try to make themselves something they aren’t.

Take, for example, the Georgia Guitar Quartet, which plays at 7:30 Feb. 11 at the Singletary Center for the Arts.

With its concert in the offing, I was checking out its Web site. I was impressed with an ensemble that looked very 21st-century but made no attempt to present the group as anything other than what it is: four accomplished young musicians from an eclectic college town that gave us R.E.M. and the B-52s. The user-friendly Web site includes most everything you’d want to know about the group, including repertoire, member biographies and concert dates with links for tickets. There’s also an intriguing blog at the news button that’s loaded with photos. One of the photographers, Kevin Hoth, has a style reminiscent of well-traveled rock photographer Anton Corbijn.

You also gather, subtly, that these guys recently played with the Utah Symphony, have supporters such as classical guitar deity Christopher Parkening, write some of their own music and do things like contribute articles on Alberto Ginastera to prestigious music journals. Message: These guys are good. With white and yellow type on a black background, the site looks young, confident and sleek but not self-consciously so.

Then there’s GGQ’s MySpace page. Ah, MySpace, the primary bastion of many a band trying to get its name out there. Call it up and streaming audio starts up just like at any other band site. Then there is the requisite bio, send-a-message button and roster of friends, which includes Wilco drummer and celebrated University of Kentucky percussion graduate Glenn Kotche. (GGQ member Kyle Dawkins is quite thrilled to play a venue Wilco has played.)

It’s not that either site blew me away, as much as they made me think that anyone would gather that these are young men who live and partake in our culture and offer something that is very interesting, if you’d give it a chance. And their presentation entices you to give it a chance.

That makes them no different from many other young musicians around the world. They are passionate artists who present the past and present while looking forward to the future. And they have the good sense not to smash their instruments.

(The Georgia Guitar Quartet is also smart enough to have big, downloadable press photos on its website. The gentlemen above are, from left to right, Jason Solomon, Kyle Dawkins, Brian Smith and Phil Snyder.)

Also this weekend: Check out the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 tonight (Feb. 9) at the Singletary Center. They will be performing George Frederick McKay's Epoch, which they have spent the last three days recording for Naxos records. It will be interesting to see how the orchestra does without the constant starting and stopping process of recording. Check out the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com Feb. 18 for a complete story on the UK Orchestra's major label debut. (In Charles Bertram's photo, above, John Nardolillo conducts the orchestra during Tuesday's recording session.)