(un)SAFE SAX: the Adolphe Sax Ensemble performs New Music for 6 Saxes

On SUNDAY, February 4 [1996] at 4:00 p.m., the Adolphe Sax Ensemble, directed by William Trimble, performs (un)SAFE SAX, a concert of new music for six saxes at Old First Concerts in San Francisco. The program intermixes jazz, theater music and pieces built on classical forms.

The Adolphe Sax Ensemble is an all saxophone ensemble, dedicated to performing the finest music for the saxophone choir. Its members include some of the finest saxophonists in the nation, many of whom are internationally known soloists, recording artists, composers, and active touring musicians. Director Trimble, an outstanding performer and educator, is a supporter of new music who has also been advancing the cause of the saxophone in classical music for many years. (In this concert, the performers will use saxes ranging from the Bb soprano to the rare contrabass in Eb--there are only eight of them in the world.)

The music on the program comes from many sources. A trip to the Czech Republic inspired Dennis Lindholm to write Notes from Prague, mixing jazz and blues with echoes of the old world. Charles Buel's Reflections on Raga Todi, written for alto solo, combines Indian, Balinese, Chinese and Western European music to make a statement about the unity of human experience around the world. Quintets by Alan Stringer and Peter Bellinger are modern in idiom but based on classical forms. Wanna Do Ya Wanna by Warner Jepson began as a raunchy theater piece set to lyrics of Sam Shepherd before being expanded into a work for sax ensemble. And much more.... All music on this program was written by members of the Society of Gay and Lesbian Composers--a composers' cooperative based in San Francisco that is open to composers of all styles.

The concert will be presented at Old First Church on Sunday, February 4, at 4:00 P.M. A donation of $9 will be requested at the door. Discounts are available for seniors, students and members of Old First Concerts. The Church is located at 1751 Sacramento Street (at Van Ness) in San Francisco. Come and hear why Paul Hindemith once said, "the saxophone may one day replace the strings in the modern symphony orchestra."

For further information, please call (415) 474-1608.