Events Calendar

Classical Sax at SMCM, Friday night!

On Friday, February 15, at 8 pm (Auerbach Auditorium, St. Mary's Hall) Brian Utley, the saxophone professor at the Blair School of Music of Vanderbilt University will join with SMCM's Eliza Garth for an evening of classical saxophone music.  They will play music by Pierre Sancan, Jacob ter Veldhuis (also known as Jacob TV), Stephen Lias, and SMCM's David Froom (Professor and Chair of the Music Department).  The work by Froom is a new one, written for Prof. Utley. Utley and Garth are both powerful advocates of new music, both involved in many, many world premieres (including works written for them), and both are well represented on commercial CD recordings.  The critic for ArtsNash said of Utley and his performance of David Froom's new work in Nashville:  "[Froom's work] explored the saxophone's virtuoso capabilities and wide expressive range...a short, glistening cadenza. . .quickly segued into an energetic and aggressive first section. . . When the tension finally subsided, the music became gentle and gauzy. . . In the second and forth sections, the music was slow, wistful and ardent. The third section . . . was a spiky scherzo, while the conclusion was an extroverted virtuoso romp. [The performers] played fast passages with high drama and vitality. . . [the] slow sections with nuance and warm expression."