It’s been quite some time since I last wrote a blog post. This past Thursday I had the wonderful opportunity to present a guest artist recital at my alma mater, SUNY Fredonia. My incredible teacher, Dr. Wildy Zumwalt, helped organize the event, and I’m so very grateful and pleased that the performance went well and was well-attended.
I also had the privilege of performing with the incredible pianist Amber Shay Nicholson (who was on the piano faculty at USM when I studied there). With her collaboration, we performed three incredible works for alto saxophone and piano: Andrew Martin Smith’s Amalgamation, Brandon Nelson’s Unbecoming, and Paul Creston’s Sonata, op. 19. I’m very pleased with how the performance went and I’m looking forward to hearing the recording!
Two unaccompanied works were also performed: Jamie Leigh Sampson’s With No Name and Everette Minchew’s Figment. These also went well.
Afterwards, I got to reconnect with my teacher, composer Andrew Martin Smith, saxophonist Diane Hunger, and my friends in the Decho Ensemble.
The entire experience was musically fulfilling, and I’m looking forward to some jazz performances in the coming months.
From a research perspective, I was able to finally visit the Sigurd Rascher Archive and do some more research into his relationship with composer Roman Palester. I found some information that I was not privy to back when I began my dissertation, and I’m going to begin writing another article about them this summer.
BRIAN KAUTH 