Single Release: Sanctuary

After months of preparation, recording, and production, I am thrilled to share that my single release of Viet Cuong’s Sanctuary is now live! This recording was performed in collaboration with pianist and composer Benjamin Nylander and made possible by our fearless sound engineer and producer Robert Dunham. This new single can be found on your favorite online music outlets like Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, iTunes, and countless others. This is the world premiere commercial recording of Sanctuary and we could not be happier with how it turned out!

This project would not have been possible without the support of the 40+ musicians who helped commission the piece in 2020. It was my hope that this project would help form new connections and bonds despite the isolation, division, and strife of that year, and I was quite floored with the enthusiastic response towards this commission across our community. Many thanks to the following commission consortium members:

Alvin Phan
Andrew Harrison
Andrew Hutchens
Andrew Moore
Dr. Bob Eason
Dr. Bobbi Thompson
Dr. Brandon Quarles
Carl Ng
Dylan Ward
Dr. Gabriel Piqué
Dr. Gail B. Levinsky
Dr. Geoffrey Deibel
Jack Thorpe
Jacob Kilford
Dr. Jan Baker
Dr. Jeffrey Leung
Jess Dodge
Joe Lyons
Jon Deysher
Jonathan Stelzner
Joshua Tuttle
Kaitlyn Grella
Katherine Campbell
Kirby Leitz
Kyle Blake Jones
Lindsey Welp
Lois Hicks-Wozniak
Nick Grimone
Dr. Nicki Roman
Oswaldo Garza
Reese Burgan
Robert Hess
Dr. Sarah Hetrick
Dr. Stephen Page
Steven Amann
Taiki Azuma
Third Stream Duo (3S2)
Trek Boyland
Tyler Young
Uday Singh
Dr. Xin Gao
Zach Arthur

Sanctuary’s single also represents the first taste of a larger project: my debut album! The album will feature music for saxophone and piano by John Anthony Lennon, Marilyn Shrude, Benjamin Nylander, Delanie Molnar, and Viet Cuong, recorded once again in collaboration with Benjamin Nylander and Robert Dunham. Keep an eye out for updates in the coming weeks and months!

Now, what are you waiting for? Take a listen to the first ever commercial recording of Viet Cuong’s Sanctuary!

Improve Saxophone Altissimo with Overtone Matching

Hello saxo-world, it has been a few weeks! Thank you so much for your patience during this brief gap in content. As many of you may know, I am currently knee-deep in pursuing a DMA degree at Bowling Green State University. I am really enjoying this program, however, this means that content output may interrupted from time to time by pressing matters that arise during in my studies. I appreciate your patience during these brief gaps.

Anyway, I have been teaching many of my college sophomore sax technique students altissimo and have found an exercise that has been especially helpful in their growth. Overtone matching is great for practicing altissimo and improving your tone and intonation! Credit to Reese Burgan, who first introduced me to this exercise a few years ago. Check out more in the video below!

How to Improve Your Saxophone Embouchure Quickly

I am often asked by students about the best exercise to quickly improve embouchure strength and form. This video is about my favorite embouchure training exercise! All credit for this exercise goes to to my teacher, Dr. Jan Berry Baker, who used it with me during my time studying with her.