Based in Western Australia, and featuring four acclaimed virtuosi (Jonathan Paget, Ingrid Riollot, Ethan Dorrian, and Craig Lake), the Silver Sands Guitar Quartet performs dynamic classical music with a crossover feel. Its members are soloists with decades of experience as global performers and recording artists.

The group is passionate about Australian repertoire, commissioning new works, and performing original arrangements. The title of the program, "The World in a Single Grain," references the words of poet William Blake mirroring how minimalist music can obscure the sense of time's passing. It also depicts the timeless and undefinable beauty of nature. Blake's poem reads:

To see the world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wildflower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

OUTCROP (2017) - Azariah Felton
arr. Jonathan Paget
This is a new adaption of a stunning post-minimalist work by Perth composer Azariah Feltonm retitled \"Outcrop.\" Combining rock and minimalist influences, it evokes the topography of the southwest area of Western Australia (known particularly for its granite outcrops).

MANTA RAY BALLET
from Five Tails in Cold Blood (2017) - Richard Charlton
With the appeal of a contemporary rock ballad, Charlton playfully caricatures the Manta Ray\'s graceful underwater movements. This is especially fitting for Western Australia, given the region\'s internationally significant aquatic landmark, Ningaloo Reef.

A LENDA DO CABOCLO (1922)-Heitor Villa-Lobos
arr. Jonathan Paget
This is a delightful new arrangement of Villa-Lobos\'s evocative piano solo \"A Lenda do caboclo\" (the legend of the native), combining impressionistic textures with melodies and rhythms inspired by Brazilian popular music.

THE PASSING OF A BLACK STAR (2016) - Marian Budos
This is a poetic tribute to rock legend David Bowie, masterfully written by Australian composer Marián Budos. A tour-de-force of guitar virtuosity and rock sensibility, this work is rapidly becoming a classic of the genre.

 

STAIRS (2006) - David Pritchard

This is a scintillating example of pop minimalism, with its hypnotic ambiance and rhythmic dynamism. The title may allude to the biblical story of Jacob\'s dream regarding a stairway to heaven and the paradoxical stairs in drawings by Max Escher. Rhythmic illusions are created here by parts playing simultaneously in different meters.

CLIFFS (2015) - Robert Davidson
An enchanting musical depiction of the grandeur of the Brisbane River and its gorges, this work by acclaimed Queensland composer Robert Davidson combines haunting textures, beautiful melodies, and piquant counterpoint.

TO HIS SERVANT BACH, GOD GRANTS A FINAL GLIMPSE: THE MORNING STAR (1989) - Graham Koehne 

(arr. Jonathan Paget)
This is a new arrangement of Australian composer Graham Koehne\'s celebrated contemporary tribute to Bach. Bach\'s first biographer Philip Spitta (writing in 1889), notes:  \" ... so that Bach was henceforth totally blind... On July 18 he suddenly found his eyesight restored, and could bear daylight but this was life\'s parting greeting...
he died on Tuesday, July 28, 1750... \"

GILI MIMPANG (2018) - Ian Seaborn
A beautiful evocation of an underwater landscape, this work is also a homage to Australia\'s ongoing love affair with the island of Bali.