ACTIVE PROJECTS
Matthew Kennedy: Ripple (alto saxophone, wind ensemble, April 2023)
Alvin Leung: Petrichor (sax, electronics, Fall 2023)
COMMISSIONED WORKS
Benjamin Nylander: Body of water (soprano/alto saxophone and piano, May 2022)
Emily Liushen: der Hyperchonder in der Landschaft (solo Alto Saxophone, January 2022)
Matthew Kennedy: Impatient Youth (flute, oboe, bassoon, horn, alto saxophone, January 2022)
Aaron Jay Kernis: ±8,632 Places in New York City (consortium member, alto saxophone and percussion, November 2021)
Emily McPherson: The Coloring Book (solo instrument, October 2021)
Delanie Molnar: Hex Codes of Us (alto saxophone and piano, August 2021)
Michael Schelle: Jackhammer Heracles (alto saxophone and piano, February 2021)
Viet Cuong: Sanctuary (consortium head, soprano saxophone and piano, November 2020)
Connor Bonham: A Fade In and Out of Color (saxophone multitrack, October 2020)
Coleman Rowlett: Metalwood (version for Eb clarinet and alto saxophone, January 2020)
Robin McLaughlin: Lights will Find You (alto saxophone, electronics, and lighting, January 2020)
Sam Longo-Copobianco: Arrows Beyond (version for soprano saxophone, electronics, November 2019)
Coleman Rowlett: Last Salute (string orchestra, April 2019)
Connor Bonham: Suite for Strings: New Kingdom (string orchestra, April 2019)
Coleman Rowlett: Spectral Radiance: Concerto For Alto Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra (piano reduction, September 2018)
Coleman Rowlett: Spectral Radiance: Concerto For Alto Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra (consortium head, alto saxophone and chamber orchestra, April 2018)
Nathan Bales: Le Chat Noir (clarinet, soprano saxophone, and piano, premiered April 2018)
James Dinsmoor: ...is Right Twice a Day (flute and alto saxophone, December 2017)
Dylan Findley: La Mer - Claude Debussy (version for clarinet, tenor saxophone, piano, October 2017)
Marc Mellits: Revolution (version for bass clarinet, soprano/alto saxophone, and piano, October 2017)
Royal Teague: Soundbite (saxophone duo, premiered April 2017)
Coleman Rowlett: Metalwood (flute and alto saxophone, premiered April 2017)
Matthew Quayle: Connect (consortium head, saxophone quartet, premiered March 2017)
Chris Fredrick: Elegie et Toccata (solo alto saxophone, January 2017)
Coleman Rowlett: Spaghetti Junction (saxophone quartet, January 2017)
Kris McCormick: Life, Time, Eternity (baritone saxophone and soprano voice, premiered April 2016)
Coleman Rowlett: Meditation (solo alto saxophone, premiered August 2015)
John Leonard IV: I Hide My Face, Its Form is Grotesque (solo alto saxophone, premiered May 2015)
Coleman Rowlett: Untitled (saxophone quartet, premiered April 2015)
Coleman Rowlett: Crucible (tenor saxophone and piano, premiered April 2015)
Molly Joyce: Push Comes to Shove (consortium member, saxophone quartet, June 2014)
OTHER PREMIERED WORKS
Augusta Read Thomas: Rings of Light (saxophone ensemble, world premiere October 2021)
Connor Gibbs: Wondering (sopranino saxophone and toy piano, world premiere February 2021)
Coleman Rowlett: Departed Warmth (string orchestra and brass, world premiere December 2018)
Robin McLaughlin: Left Shark (solo tenor saxophone, southeastern premiere April 2017)
Coleman Rowlett: Sonatina (alto saxophone and piano, southeastern premiere March 2017)
Michael Pisaro: A Wave and Waves (100 percussionists, USA premiere October 2016)
Nathan Bales: Cocoon (wind ensemble, world premiere September 2016)
Dana Fredrick: Trio (soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone, piano, world premiere April 2016)
Jared LeDoux: The Wanderer (saxophone quartet, world premiere April 2016)
John Leonard IV: Consequential Organization Within the Ideological State Apparatus
(flute, tenor saxophone, tuba, percussion, and projectionist, world premiere April 2015)
Fergal Carroll: Cathedral Variations (wind orchestra, world premiere April 2015)
Coleman Rowlett: Suite (saxophone ensemble, world premiere March 2015)
Matthew Tiramani: Black (mens choir, world premiere February 2015)
Coleman Rowlett: Fanfare (saxophone ensemble, world premiere April 2014)
COMMERCIAL RECORDINGS
ALCHEMY (recorded January 2021 - May 2022, album released on September, 2022)
1. John Anthony Lennon: Distances Within Me (1979)
2. Marilyn Shrude: Lacrimosa (2006, premiere recording)
3. Mischa Zupko: Simple Song (2019, premiere recording)
4. Benjamin Nylander: Body of Water (2022, premiere recording)
5. Viet Cuong: Sanctuary (2020, premiere recording)
Viet Cuong: Sanctuary (recorded May 2021, released on “Sanctuary” single, March 2022)
Steve Reich: Reed Phase (recorded December 2017, released on “Reed Phase” single, October 2019)
Stephen Wood: Roadless (recorded May 2017, released on "Untrammeled" CD album June 2018)
PUBLICATIONS
48 Famous Studies For Saxophone Duet, Franz Wilhelm Ferling, arr. Reese Burgan, ed. Joshua Heaney
(Murphy Music Press, February 2020)
RESEARCH
DISSERTATION: The Development of Luciano Berio's Sequenza IX and Its Implications for Performance Practice
Luciano Berio’s Sequenza IX continues to be a bifurcated work filled with incongruities between its clarinet (IXa) and alto saxophone (IXb) versions. Dozens of unexplained discrepancies exist between these two versions, such as differences in pitch, rhythm and temporal duration, missing material, and expressive markings. It also appears that many technical concessions were made in regard to the saxophone version’s octave registration, low register articulations, and cut passages. Furthermore, some practical problems are associated with the saxophone version of Sequenza IX, such as unreliable multiphonic fingerings and difficult page turns. This study addresses these heretofore unresolved issues by interviewing musicians who collaborated with Luciano Berio in creating and performing Sequenza IXb, including Iwan Roth, John Harle, and Claude Delangle. This study also engages in comparative analysis of all published editions and examines Berio’s primary documents, manuscripts, and correspondence archived at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel, Switzerland. The genesis, development, and evolution of Sequenza IXb are illustrated through establishing a new oral chronology. An exhaustive catalogue of every observed discrepancy and change between each manuscript and edition of Sequenza IXb is created, as well. Finally, this study synthesizes the aforementioned findings to produce practical recommendations for saxophonists, including suggested changes to the score, revised program note material, alternative options for multiphonic fingerings, suggestions for navigating the problematic page turns, and performance practice considerations. The findings from this study will allow saxophonists to achieve more authentic performances and teaching of Luciano Berio’s cornerstone unaccompanied saxophone work, Sequenza IXb.
Sequenza IXb: Establishing a Chronology of Berio’s Most Bifurcated Work
Sequenza IX, written by Italian composer Luciano Berio, is a work for solo instrument that exists in multiple versions. The primary two versions of this work are denoted IXa and IXb for solo soprano clarinet and solo alto saxophone, respectively. Multiple differences exist between these two versions, such as discrepancies in pitch material and temporal duration, missing material, and rhythmic errata. Players lack critical information for making informed decisions regarding these discrepancies. The Sequenza falls victim to a nebulous history as a result of poor documentation and conflicting accounts. Consequentially, it is difficult to resolve the aforementioned discrepancies without pursuing a significant investigation to establish an accurate chronology of genesis and development of the work. I begin this investigation by surveying the current state of Sequenza IX to assess how problems are approached today. Next, I investigate existing literature concerning this work and compare institutional resources that document the work. Finally, I utilize newly obtained accounts from those involved in the development of Sequenza IX to unveil crucial information for constructing a chronology of the work’s genesis and development. I argue that this investigation yields a coherent timeline and provides valuable insights regarding the circumstances of Sequenza IX’s genesis and development.
More Than a Rough Draft: Claude Debussy's Rapsodie pour Orchestre et Saxophone
The repertoire of the concert saxophone is largely occupied by compositions of fairly obscure composers, an eclectic collection of works that would hardly qualify as household classical staples. Supplementing these esoteric titles is a small amount of works written by better known composers, the most famous of which being Claude Debussy and his Rapsodie pour Orchestre et Saxophone (1903). Despite the significance of a composer like Debussy writing for the saxophone and his relative fame in comparison to other composers in the saxophone repertoire, Rapsodie remains largely unrecognized by musicologists in the context of Debussy’s compositional output and musical development. In fact, this work does not even merit any entry or footnote in the Grove Dictionary of Music! Greater understanding of this phenomenon will be garnered through investigation of the work’s genesis and development, musical analysis of outside compositional features and outside influences, clarification of misconceptions surrounding the composition, and analysis of how the work should be approached in a modern performance context.