Trillium Salon Series: Expressive Resonance

Touted as a “gifted guitarist” by the New York Times, 2-time Grammy®-nominated artist Mak Grgic [GER-gich] is a star on the worldwide stage. An expansive and adventurous repertoire attests to his versatility and wide-ranging interests. From the ethnic music of his native Balkans to extreme avant-garde and microtonal music, his roles as soloist, collaborator, and Grammy-nominated recording artist are fueled by curiosity, imagination, and boundless energy. As a testament to his versatility and wide-ranging appeal, in 2018 Mak was invited by legendary singer-songwriter k.d. lang to perform as the opening act for the North American leg of her Ingénue Redux Tour.

Described as playing “an unapologetic brand of jazz-rock guitar that does not look back,” in All About Jazz, Jake Hertzog is a critically acclaimed guitarist, composer and educator whose career to-date has spanned eleven albums as bandleader across jazz, rock and classical new music styles. Most recently, Jake Hertzog is pushing the boundaries of improvisation, guitar, and technology with a turn of events, a release in collaboration media artist Adam Hogan. The pair blend free jazz, and ambisonic technology on a completely innovative new album released in 2023. A grand prize winner of the Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition, among many other accolades, Hertzog currently serves as Jazz Area Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Guitar at the University of Arkansas.