Department of Performing Arts: Music
SOU Saxophones Return from China to Perform
10/26/2007
ASHLAND, OR. – The Southern Oregon University Department of Music Siskiyou Saxophone Orchestra and Saxophone Quartet will present “Music from the China Tour” on Friday, October 26, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. in the SOU Music Recital Hall. Tickets for this performance are $8 for general admission and free for students.
On the 21st of October the SOU Saxophone studio, led by Associate Professor Rhett Bender, returned from a concert tour of coastal China. While in Shanghai they teamed up with a saxophone ensemble from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music to present a joint concert at the China Instrument Manufacturer Convention. In Yantai they were hosted by a manufacturer of saxophones and gave concerts in addition to touring the factory.
Based at the Ashland campus of SOU, the Siskiyou Saxophone Quartet is celebrating its tenth year. Originally the Siskiyou Saxophone Quartet started as a vehicle for SOU Saxophone Professor Rhett Bender to educate and nurture the saxophone studio. Now it has grown to an internationally known ensemble that has performed at both regional and national conferences of the North American Saxophone Alliance, the XIIIth World Saxophone Congress, and toured Mexico in 2001, Sichuan in 2005 and most recently the China coast in October of 2007. The Siskiyou Saxophone Quartet has served as a resident ensemble at the Sichuan Conservatory of Classical Music in Chengdu, China. Numerous composers have written or arranged works for the Quartet including Todd Barton, Mark Jacobs, Mark Knipple, Carleton Macy, Hu Xiao-ou, John Cooper, and Yi Jiayi. Members of the quartet are Rhett Bender, soprano; Steve Davidson, alto; Vicki Purslow, tenor, and Angel McDonald, baritone.
Building on the success of the Siskiyou Saxophone Quartet, Rhett Bender created the Siskiyou Saxophone Orchestra in 2006. The twelve-member ensemble features the entire saxophone family, from the soprano to the bass saxophone. The orchestra plays an entertaining mix of classical and folk music arrangements as well as original works for saxophone. Members include: Rhett Bender, director; Jenifer Jaseau, sopranino; Nicklas Waroff, soprano, Steve Davidson, Tovi Olivolo, Andrew Krug, and Laura Roy, alto; Vicki Purslow, Erin Luce, and Heather Tomiyama, tenor; Angel McDonald, baritone; and Keith Smelcer, bass.
Tickets and season passes can be purchased at the SOU Music Box Office or by calling 541-552-6101. For more information please visit Southern Oregon University’s Music Department website at www.sou.edu/music/sax_quartet.html
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