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Pautza, Mark Gould, David Briskin, and Randell Berh. His chamber music playing includes performances with the New Juilliard Ensemble, New Jersey Saxophone Ensemble, and recent tours with the New York Theater Ballet. Avi AMERICAN CLASSICS Goldrosen performs regularly with the Saxophone Sinfonia, and is a member of the Garden State Symphonic Band.

David Demsey, NHSQ tenor saxophonist, is Professor of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University. He has performed with the since 1995, including their 2000 Millennium European Tour and 1997 Latin American Tour, led by André Previn, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, Bobby McFerrin, Yuri Temirkanov and Kurt Masur, with the Kirov Orchestra led by Valery Gergiev, and with the BREATHING conducted by James Levine. As a jazz performer, he has appeared with such diverse artists as trumpeter Clark Terry, bassists Milt Hinton and Rufus Reid, pianists Mulgrew Miller, James Williams and Jim McNeely, drummers Alan Dawson, Steve Smith and John Riley, and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. Dr. Demsey is also an active author. His LESSONS “Improvisation and Concepts of Virtuosity” is the final essay in the Oxford Companion to Jazz. He has published the transcription book John Coltrane Plays “Giant Steps” (Hal Leonard), and has written two books on composer Alec Wilder. He is a Contributing Editor for Saxophone Journal and is a Selmer Saxophone Clinician. Music for Tim Ruedeman, NHSQ baritone saxophonist, has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Lincoln Center Festival, Long Island Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, Bridgeport Symphony, Bang On A Can, Saxophone Quartet International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Absolute Ensemble, S.E.M. Ensemble, and Merce Cunningham Dance Company. A committed performer of new music, he has given the premières of over sixty pieces and is a member of the new-music ensemble, Flexible Music. Equally at home in jazz and popular music Tim has toured and performed with rock legends The Cars, Todd Rundgren, Christopher Cross, Lou Gramm of Foreigner, Denny Laine of Wings, the Walkmen, and has appeared on Late Night with David Letterman. He can be heard on recordings with Absolute Ensemble, Flexible Music, and The Walkmen. Dr. Ruedeman is currently on faculty of the Oberlin Tanenbaum Conservatory of Music, NYU, Long Island University, William Paterson University, and Montclair State University. The Inquirer wrote, “Tim Ruedeman’s saxophone solos were the evening’s tour de force. He proved the extreme virtuosity required for playing slowly and softly, and the intricacy of holding a tone.” Sampson • Morrill Scott Mendoker Sauter • Ewazen As a freelance tuba player, Scott Mendoker has performed and/or recorded with the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops and the Broadway hit Ragtime. As a soloist, he has performed throughout the , giving recitals and performing as a guest soloist New Hudson with orchestras and bands. Highlights include the world première of Serenata for solo tuba and wind ensemble by David Sampson in Carnegie Hall and the world première performance of The Bezoar Concerto by Vern Miller, Jr. with the United States Army Saxophone Band, “Pershing’s Own”. Recordings include Kansas City Dances, a tuba concerto by David Holsinger with the Rutgers University Wind Ensemble, and David Sampson’s Three Portraits for tuba and chamber orchestra with members of the Czech Philharmonic. Quartet Scott is a Senior Artist Teacher at the Hartt School/University of Hartford and is a member of the Vermont Mozart Festival, the New York Chamber Soloists and the highly acclaimed brass quintet, Philadelphia Brass. Scott Mendoker, Tuba 8.559627 8 559627 bk Hudson US 27/4/11 12:56 Page 2

BREATHING LESSONS New Hudson Saxophone Quartet Formed in 1987, the New Hudson Saxophone Music for Saxophone Quartet Quartet is dedicated to performing and expanding the American repertoire for saxophone quartet. 1 Elias Tanenbaum (1924-2008): Sax Quartet 10:33 Of the NHSQ Fanfare Magazine writes, “The perfection of the ensemble they have achieved is David Sampson (b. 1951): Breathing Lessons 21:19 astonishing. In matters of intonation, phrasing, 2 Scene 1: Maggie and Ira Doran, A Trip to Deer Lick 3:02 articulation, and interpretive insight they equal 3 Interlude 1: ‘Settle for Being Ordinary?’ 2:09 the finest of our currently performing string 4 quartets.” The NHSQ repertoire ranges from Scene 2: Daniel Otis Meets the Dorans 2:34 newly commissioned works by Robert Kyr, 5 Interlude 2: ‘Lives alone… drying out like a raisin’ 4:26 Robert Sirota, David Noon, Elias Tanenbaum and 6 Scene 3: Jesse and Fiona: Reunion 2:33 Dexter Morrill to classic American works for 7 Interlude 3: ‘Four vacant rockers’ 3:48 saxophone quartet by composers such as Elliot 8 Carter, , and Alec Wilder to classic Scene 4: Maggie 2:47 Hollywood Sax Quartet versions of popular song Dexter Morrill (b. 1938): Six Bagatelles 12:05 standards. The members of the Quartet all are veteran chamber musicians and accomplished 9 No. 1. Prelude (to the memory of Harry Carney) 2:35 Left to right: Paul Cohen, David Demsey, Tim Ruedeman, Avi Goldrosen soloists, with credits that include the Cleveland 0 No. 2. Scales 1:05 Photo: Kerzner Studios Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan ! No. 3. Duet 2:06 Opera, Absolute Ensemble, the Kirov and Juilliard Orchestras, as well as jazz musicians Clark Terry, James Moody, @ No. 4. Mediterranean 1:51 Muhal Richard Abrams, and Milt Hinton. In 2006 Naxos released the world première recording of Flagello’s Concerto Sinfonico performed by the NHSQ and the Rutgers University Orchestra led by Kynan Johns. The NHSQ # No. 5. Blues Interlude 2:52 is active in expanding the saxophone quartet repertoire, and has commissioned and given premières of over thirty $ No. 6. Riffs (to the memory of Zoot Sims) 1:36 new works by established and emerging composers.

Eddie Sauter (1914-1981): Paul Cohen, NHSQ soprano saxophonist, is the founding director of the NHSQ. He has appeared as soloist with Piece for Tuba and Saxophone Quartet 11:48 the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Charleston, Richmond and New Jersey, the Group for Contemporary % Music, the New York Solisti and the Philharmonia Virtuosi. He has also performed with a broad range of orchestras, I. ! = 60 4:03 including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, New Jersey Symphony, Oregon ^ II. ! = 120 2:03 Symphony, Long Island Philharmonic, Group for Contemporary Music, Charleston Symphony, and the Manhattan & III. ! = 60 2:17 Chamber Orchestra. He has recorded three albums with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds led by Frederick Fennell, * IV. ! = 126 3:25 a Villa Lobos CD with the Quintet of the Americas, and CDs with the Philharmonia Virtuosi, Paul Winter Consort, North-South Consonance and the New Sousa Band. His many solo orchestra performances include works of Ibert, ( Eric Ewazen (b. 1954): Rhapsody for Saxophone Quartet 9:11 Debussy, Creston, Glazunov, Amram, Loeffler, Husa, Martin, Dahl, Villa-Lobos, Still, Cowell, Higdon and Tomasi. Dr. Cohen is currently on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, NYU, Montclair State University, Rutgers University, and the conservatories of Queens and Colleges. Producer: Paul Cohen Engineers: David Smith (tracks 1-14, 19); David Kerzner (tracks 15-18) Avi Goldrosen, NHSQ alto saxophonist, performs with several orchestras in the NYC region, including the Editors: David Kerzner (tracks 1, 9-14); Ryan Streber (tracks 2-8); Plainfield Symphony, Long Island Philharmonic, Livingston, Charleston Symphony, New Jersey Pops, Rutgers, and Michael Ibrahim (tracks 15-19) Juilliard orchestras, and has performed under the conductors Lawrence Leighton Smith, Richard Auldon Clark, Sabin 8.559627 2 7 8.559627 559627 bk Hudson US 27/4/11 12:56 Page 6

numerous composition awards and prizes. His works City. He has been a faculty member at Juilliard since Music for Saxophone Quartet have been commissioned and performed by soloists, 1980. chamber ensembles and orchestras in the United States The New Hudson Saxophone Quartet first came to Breathing Lessons is the New Hudson Saxophone Elias Tanenbaum composed his Sax Quartet for the and overseas. Individual works of Eric Ewazen have the attention of Eric Ewazen in 2004 when he attended Quartet’s third full-length recording of American music New Hudson Saxophone Quartet in 1999. It was the first recently been released by the Ahn Trio, Julie Giacobassi their performance of Calvin Hampton’s Concerto for for saxophone quartet. This collection of world première of two saxophone quartets that he composed and of the San Francisco Symphony, Charles Vernon of the Saxophone Quartet and Chamber Orchestra with the recordings, spanning an extraordinary range of style, dedicated to the NHSQ. The piece came about as a Chicago Symphony, Koichiro Yamamoto of the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra at Merkin Hall in New temperament, and brilliant musical creativity includes result of Tanenbaum’s long relationship with NHSQ Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Ronald Barron of the York City. After the concert Ewazen and the members new works by Eric Ewazen and David Sampson, pieces soprano saxophonist Paul Cohen; colleagues at the Boston Symphony, Doug Yeo of the Boston Symphony, of the NHSQ had a chance to meet. Ewazen asked if the written for and dedicated to the New Hudson Manhattan School of Music for many years. Sax Quartet Steve Witser of the Cleveland Orchestra, Joe Alessi and NHSQ might be interested in performing his recently Saxophone Quartet by Dexter Morrill and Elias is composed in an arch form, ABCBA. It is Philip Smith of the New York Philharmonic, the Horn composed Rhapsody for saxophone quartet. Rhapsody Tanenbaum, and Eddie Sauter’s rarely heard Piece for characterized by its driving rhythms based on the Section of the New York Philharmonic, the Summit quickly became a repertoire staple at NHSQ concerts. Tuba and Saxophone Quartet composed in 1961. composer’s experiences as a jazz musician in his early Brass Ensemble and the American Brass Quintet. As with the other pieces on this disc, the NHSQ worked Since its inception in 1987 the New Hudson years. The NHSQ had the pleasure of working closely Ewazen’s music is published by Southern Music closely with the composer in rehearsals for Saxophone Quartet has been dedicated to performing with the composer in rehearsals for performances and in Company, International Trombone Association performances and for this recording. Rhapsody is and expanding the American repertoire for saxophone preparation for this recording. We were deeply Manuscript Press, Keyboard Publications, Manduca published by Theodore Presser. quartet. In that time the NHSQ has commissioned or saddened that Elias passed away before this CD could Music, Encore Music, Triplo Music, and Brass Ring premièred over thirty new works for saxophone quartet be released. This world première recording of Editions. He has been lecturer for the New York Tim Ruedeman including works by Robert Sirota, David Noon, Steve Tanenbaum’s Sax Quartet is dedicated to his memory. Philharmonic’s Musical Encounters Series, Vice- Cohen, Robert Kyr, Nils Vigeland, Calvin Hampton and David Sampson was born in 1951 in President of the League of Composers—International This CD is dedicated to the memory of Jordan Berk and Nicolas Flagello. All of the works on this disc have Charlottesville, Virginia, and has emerged as one of the Society of Contemporary Music, and Composer-In- was made possible by the generous support of Norlan become staples of the NH