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About Us
The Sforzato Guitar Quartet, formed in May 2023, recently completed its debut concert tour in Iceland's Westfjords in June. The quartet's members first met as students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music during the 2016/2017 academic year. SGQ's mission is to share the beauty of four guitars, offering classical and contemporary favorites for all audiences to enjoy.
Stephan Kane is a classical guitarist based in Berlin and San Francisco whose unique style combines virtuosic skill with an interest in classical and popular music. Raised on the sunny shores of Kailua, Hawaii, Stephan developed a reputation playing for weddings in the jungles and beaches of Oahu, Kauai, and later in the San Francisco Bay Area. His sound has been described as embodying the passion of Spain and having great sensitivity and lyricism. Stephan has performed and toured as soloist and with chamber groups throughout Hawaii, Oregon, California, Iceland, and Germany. Stephan holds a Master of Music degree and Professional Studies Diploma in classical guitar performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he graduated summa cum laude studying with David Tanenbaum, Marc Teicholz, Larry Ferrara, and John Dearman of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. During his time at the conservatory, he was selected as the guitar department Teaching Assistant for two consecutive years and served as the guitar department representative for student council.
Dariusz Lampkowski was born in 1991. He graduated with honors from the Academy of Music. Karol Szymanowski in Katowice, where he studied under Marcin Dylla and Marek Nosal. In the years 2016-2018, as a Fulbright scholarship recipient, he continued his education at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in California, where he worked, among others, with the outstanding virtuoso and teacher Judicael Perroy.
He began his education at the age of 7 at the State Music School Complex. Grażyna Bacewicz in Koszalin, in the class of Krzysztof Nieborak, and then of Dariusz Schmidt. He was an active participant in international guitar competitions, in which he won numerous awards and distinctions.
His current achievements include:
- 1st Prize in the SFCM Concerto Competition, San Francisco;
- 3rd Prize at the University of Dallas International Guitar Competition, Texas;
- 1st Prize at the International Competition J. Rodrigo in Olsztyn;
- 2nd Prize with Mandala Guitar Quartet at Omis Guitar Fest in Croatia.
He also achieved success at international festivals in Krynica-Zdrój, Sanok, the Polish Guitar Academy in Poznań, Kutna Hora, and Brno.
His musical activity covers both solo and chamber music. He has performed concerts in Poland and the USA, including with the Berkeley Symphony in San Francisco, conducted by maestro Christian Reif.
As a soloist, he performed in Warsaw, Berlin, and at music festivals in Katowice, Jarocin, Krynica-Zdrój, Poznań, and Lanckorona.
In 2015-2016, he co-founded the Mandala Guitar Quartet, which premiered and recorded Quartet No. 1 Piotr Aleksander Nowak, and also conducted active concert activities in Poland.
He was awarded several times by the Minister of Culture for outstanding achievements, including receiving the "Young Poland" award in 2012.
Óskar Magnússon was born in 1989 and took his first steps as an electric guitarist at a young age. He played in various bands but also acquired a good foundation on bass and drums. In his twenties, Óskar began to lean towards classical guitar playing and he completed a B. Mus degree from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2017 and a master's degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music two years later. Óskar has performed widely as a soloist and participated in various guitar festivals such as Cordoba guitar festival in Spain, Forum guitar festival in Vienna, Florida guitar foundation in Miami and he also won first place in the guitar competition Gohar and Ovanes guitar competition in Los Angeles in 2018.
Jakob Sonnek is a classical guitarist active in Stockholm. He recently completed his diploma studies atthe Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. In San Francisco, he completed his Master's of Music degree as well as the Professional Studies Diploma atthe San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Before that,Jakob took his bachelor's degree in classical guitar atthe University of Music in Malmöwith an exchange year atthe University of California Santa Cruz, where he graduated with honors.
This summer, Jakob is up to date with a series of guitar concerts in Iceland and Finland, anew program with the guitar trio TrioM in Sweden and recording in Denmark.
Jakob has been awarded numerous prizes such as the Matthew Wynbrant Guitar Award, 2nd place in the SFCM Concerto Competition, 3rd place in the Gohar and Ovanes Andriassian Classical Guitar Competition and has been awarded scholarships from, among others, the Royal Academy of Music, Prince Carl Gustaf's Foundation, the Royal College of Music and Ebba and Birgit Jansson's fund for young promising musicians. In 2022, Jakob was a scholarship holder to the Vadstena Academy as a guitarist in the opera Breaking the Waves by Missy Mazzoli and as a soloist with Lennox Berkeley's guitar concerto.
Jakob has performed as a guitarist, in an ensemble and as a soloist with an orchestra around the USA, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland. Now he works as a musician and guitar teacher in Stockholm.
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