Overview:
The father-son, Topaz Duo will be performing in the Winn Room at the Coronado Public Library on Aug. 31 at 2 p.m.
Gregory and Ian Lawrence have a few things in common: they are both born in November; they both share a love for music and performance, and they both share a last name.
As trained and seasoned musicians, this father-son duo brings their expertise across genres into performance spaces in San Diego. They started their group, the Topaz Duo, in 2016, but they’ve been playing together for much longer.
“We’ve played music together since I was like 15, doing jazz standards, where I’d just accompany him on the guitar,” Ian said about playing with his father. “That’s kind of how it started.”
Both grew up surrounded by music.
“My mother was very influential,” Gregory said. “She took me to concerts when I was really young. It just drew me. I’ve done other things, but I’ve always been a musician.”
Ian said he knew from an early age that the guitar would be his craft.
“I started playing guitar when I was 12 years old,” Ian said. “Pretty much from then on, I just knew that was what I wanted to pursue, to spend my time and my life doing.”
Ian is also part of a rock band, while Gregory is the executive and artistic director of the Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra. But together, the Topaz Duo will perform a variety of pieces at an Aug. 31 concert presented by the Coronado Philharmonia Orchestra, featuring Ian on the guitar and Gregory on the violin.
Osvaldo Mendoza, the conductor of the Coronado Philharmonia Orchestra and composer, said this is the second year they’ve put on this free concert. The concert event functions like an “opener” to the upcoming season performance in September.
“The idea is to warm up people to get ready for our big concert,” Mendoza said. “I wanted to introduce the guitar, even though it’s not part of the orchestra, it is a solo instrument. For the free concerts I wanted to introduce that, so people get a little bit of a feeling between the mixture of strings and guitar.”
On Sept. 21, the Philharmonia Orchestra will be sharing the stage with Angel Romero, who some believe is the world’s most gifted classical guitarist.
Ian said he took a masterclass with Romero in the past, and now he is excited to be opening for Romero with this upcoming concert.
“In a way, I consider him one of my teachers,” Ian said. “It’s an honor to be the opener for that show.”
Ian and Gregory will be playing a wide-ranging repertoire of music, from Baroque to classical to tango.
“I’m excited for the Baroque music we’re going to play,” Ian said. “We’re going to play two pieces by two of the very first Baroque composers when the style of music changed from Renaissance to the Baroque style. I’m excited to play that music.”
“We’re going to play two pieces by two of the very first Baroque composers when the style of music changed from Renaissance to the Baroque style. I’m excited to play that music.”
They’ll also play traditional folk songs from Spain and Peru. One of the compositions they’re looking forward to is El Cóndor Pasa – a song some might recognize from the Simon and Garfunkel cover. However, this song is a traditional Peruvian folk song composed by Daniel Alomía Robles.
Ian will guide the audience through the performance as they experience the different genres.
“He’s very knowledgeable about guitar literature,” Gregory said. “He’s well spoken with it.”
With San Diego being home for both these musicians, they said they’re excited to contribute to the music landscape in San Diego and Coronado.
“Personally, I’m just looking forward to performing,” Ian said. “We’ve done a lot of gigs throughout the county, but we haven’t done a formal recital in quite awhile. It will be fun to get out there and do that again.”
The concert is happening Saturday, Aug. 31, at 2 p.m. in the Winn Room at the Coronado Public Library: 640 Orange Ave. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. and seating is first-come, first-served.
