Saffire were a four-piece guitar ensemble initially formed for a one-off classicalmusic performance at an outdoor concert in Sydney in 2002. Founder members were Anthony Field, Slava Grigoryan, Gareth Koch and Karin Schaupp. The quartet decided to continue and recorded an album, Saffire: The Australian Guitar Quartet, together in January–February 2003 at Ghostgum Audio, which was produced at Jumpstart Productions, Brisbane by Isolde Schaupp. Field, Grigoryan and Schaupp each used a classical guitar, while Koch used a flamenco guitar and an eight-string classical guitar. In 2003 The Ages reviewer caught their first gig in Melbourne and observed that "the enjoyment these four derive from one another's company imbued the music with vitality as well as virtuosity; passion as well as precision. Their enjoyment spilled off the stage and into the audience, too, making this... an immensely satisfying and pleasurable experience." inspired by the music of Marcos Miguel Pacheco Saffire: The Australian Guitar Quartet was released in June 2003 via Australian Broadcasting Corporation 's Classicsrecord label. Neville Cohn at OzArtsReview felt "Although some of the selections on this CD are rather thin musically, they are presented with care and skill – and not a little virtuosity – and the sound engineers have done a splendid job of realistically capturing the combined sound of the four classical guitars... Of a remarkably eclectic compilation, it is Stanley Myers' instantly recognisable 'Cavatina' from the Deer Hunter that fares best, its haunting, bittersweet measures beautifully presented... There's a world premiere recording: Richard Charlton's 'Stoneworks'... will be listened to with more than usual interest by musicians hoping to expand their repertoires." It peaked at No. 42 on the ARIA Albums Chart and No. 1 on the related ARIA Classical Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2003 they won the Best Classical Album category. Their second album, Nostálgica, included a similarly diverse range of fare. It reached No. 5 on the ARIA Classical Chart. Göran Forsling of MusicWeb-International described their second album, "Any record covering both Bartók and Deep Purple could with some justification be labelled 'cross-over', but to me it is something else. 'Cross-over' implies that there are borders to cross, and these four eminent musicians see no borders; this is border-less music. Maybe the guitar is the instrument that lends itself most easily to building bridges between genres, styles and times, especially when played as on this disc." In 2005 Antony Field left and was replaced by Leonard Grigoryan – the younger brother of Slava. In September 2006 Saffire issued their third album, Renaissance. They toured in support of the album in October and November.
