Three Dimensional

The classical guitar world beyond its obvious, well-known stars is a particularly passionate niche in the music world, carrying on with intensity and purpose, albeit in the margins.

One of those margins is in our neighborhood at Cal State Northridge, where classical guitar plays an important role in the curriculum and the concert arena. CSUN’s annual concert series of the American Guitar Society is a precious local resource and one of the best-kept secrets of San Fernando Valley culture.

The internationally focused series brings luminaries to campus, including the noted Russian player and composer Nikita Koshkin, who opened the five-concert season in October.

For the second concert Saturday night, the format shifts in a somewhat different direction.

The chamber group known as Trio Con Brio provides an unusual but surprisingly balanced instrumentation made up of three German women: Andrea Forderreuther on guitar, Elisabeth Deinhard on flute and Carolin Kreigbaum on viola.

The group has commissioned or been given new works by notable composers, in addition to new arrangements of traditional repertoire by Mozart, Rossini and the like.

As the chordal instrument at the epicenter and a skilled player in her own right, guitarist Forderreuther has stirred interest within the global guitar community, a small but tight realm. Composer-players of note, including Cuban Leo Brouwer and Brazilians Egberto Gismonti and Segio Assad, have rallied to contribute music to the group’s library.

Formed in 1990, Trio Con Brio appears to be making the right moves, having recorded two projects for the Koch label, including a new Romantic-based album soon to hit the shelves. The group has played numerous festivals around the world, including several guitar-related events. From the 1998 “Guitaristival” in Tampere, Finland, to a concert in Northridge, the trio is on the move with a fresh idea and sound.

BE THERE

Trio Con Brio performs Saturday at 8 p.m. at Cal State Northridge, Recital Hall, Room 158, 18111 Nordhoff St. Tickets are $12; (818) 677-2488.