2004-11-23 The Carolina Saxophone Symposium Red Clay Saxophone Quartet [recital program]

              School of Music
U N C G
School of Music
U N C G
The UNCG School of Music has been recognized for years as one of the elite
music institutions in the United States. Fully accredited by the National
Association of Schools of Music since 1938, the School offers the only
comprehensive music program from undergraduate through doctoral study in
both performance and music education in North Carolina. From a total
population of approximately 14,000 university students, the UNCG School of
Music serves nearly 600 music majors with a full-time faculty and staff of more
than sixty. As such, the UNCG School of Music ranks among the largest Schools
of Music in the South.
The UNCG School of Music now occupies a new 26 million dollar music building,
which is among the finest music facilities in the nation. In fact, the new music
building is the second-largest academic building on the UNCG Campus. A large
music library with state-of-the-art playback, study and research facilities houses
all music reference materials. Greatly expanded classroom, studio, practice
room, and rehearsal hall spaces are key components of the new structure. Two
new recital halls, a large computer lab, a psychoacoustics lab, electronic music
labs, and recording studio space are additional features of the new facility. In
addition, an enclosed multi-level parking deck is adjacent to the new music
building to serve students, faculty and concert patrons.
Living in the artistically thriving Greensboro—Winston-Salem—High Point “Triad”
area, students enjoy regular opportunities to attend and perform in concerts
sponsored by such organizations as the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, the
Greensboro Opera Company, and the Eastern Music Festival. In addition,
UNCG students interact first-hand with some of the world’s major artists who
frequently schedule informal discussions, open rehearsals, and master classes at
UNCG.
Costs of attending public universities in North Carolina, both for in-state and out-of-
state students, represent a truly exceptional value in higher education.
For information regarding music as a major or minor field of study, please write:
Dr. John J. Deal, Dean
UNCG School of Music
P.O. Box 26167
Greensboro, North Carolina 27402-6167
(336) 334-5789
On the Web: www.uncg.edu/mus/
presents
The Carolina Saxophone
Symposium
hosted by
Dr. Steven Stusek
Red Clay
Saxophone Quartet
Sponsored by
Moore Music, The Selmer Co., Vandoren/Dansr
MusicMedic.com
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Organ Hall, School of Music
Program
9:00 AM UNCG Saxophone Ensemble
School of Music
U N C G
Prelude No. 22 J.S. Bach/arr. Caravan
Presto from Octet in E@, Op. 20 Felix Mendelssohn
9:30 AM Robert Faub: “Saxophone Basics”
Bare Minimums David Heinick
Next to nothing
Even less
A bit more
Three Waltzes for alto sax and piano Arthur Frackenpohl
assisted by Christopher Ofstein
10:30 AM Connie Frigo: “Military Ensemble Audition Primer”
She Sings, She Screams Mark Engebretson
assisted by Brent Davis
11:30 AM Susan Fancher: “Saxophone Quartet Basics”
Duo Concertante Mark Engebretson
With Steven Stusek, alto saxophone
Improvisations on “Lines Where Beauty Lingers” (2003) M. William Karlins
for solo soprano saxophone (b. 1932)
Durham School of the Arts Saxophone Quartet
Andrew Hall, Dusty Carter, Nathaniel Baker, Erik Threshes
from Premier Quatuor, Op. 53 J.B. Singelée
Andante — Allegro (1812-1875)
Lunch - Exhibit - School of Music Atrium
The UNCG School of Music has been recognized for years as one of the elite
music institutions in the United States. Fully accredited by the National
Association of Schools of Music since 1938, the School offers the only
comprehensive music program from undergraduate through doctoral study in
both performance and music education in North Carolina. From a total
population of approximately 14,000 university students, the UNCG School of
Music serves nearly 600 music majors with a full-time faculty and staff of more
than sixty. As such, the UNCG School of Music ranks among the largest Schools
of Music in the South.
The UNCG School of Music now occupies a new 26 million dollar music building,
which is among the finest music facilities in the nation. In fact, the new music
building is the second-largest academic building on the UNCG Campus. A large
music library with state-of-the-art playback, study and research facilities houses
all music reference materials. Greatly expanded classroom, studio, practice
room, and rehearsal hall spaces are key components of the new structure. Two
new recital halls, a large computer lab, a psychoacoustics lab, electronic music
labs, and recording studio space are additional features of the new facility. In
addition, an enclosed multi-level parking deck is adjacent to the new music
building to serve students, faculty and concert patrons.
Living in the artistically thriving Greensboro—Winston-Salem—High Point “Triad”
area, students enjoy regular opportunities to attend and perform in concerts
sponsored by such organizations as the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, the
Greensboro Opera Company, and the Eastern Music Festival. In addition,
UNCG students interact first-hand with some of the world’s major artists who
frequently schedule informal discussions, open rehearsals, and master classes at
UNCG.
Costs of attending public universities in North Carolina, both for in-state and out-of-
state students, represent a truly exceptional value in higher education.
For information regarding music as a major or minor field of study, please write:
Dr. John J. Deal, Dean
UNCG School of Music
P.O. Box 26167
Greensboro, North Carolina 27402-6167
(336) 334-5789
On the Web: www.uncg.edu/mus/
Stacy Wilson is currently an Associate Instructor of Saxophone at Indiana University
Bloomington. She is pursuing the Master of Musical Arts Degree in saxophone
performance, having earned the Bachelors of Music in Saxophone Performance at the
University of North Carolina Greensboro in 2003 where she graduated cum laude. Her
teachers include Otis Murphy, Dr. Steve Stusek, Steve Haines, as well as Virginia-Novine
and Dr. Craig Whittaker. A proficient performer on the saxophone, Stacy has held the
principal saxophone position in the UNCG Wind Ensemble under the baton of Dr. John R.
Locke and has been a mainstay in the Indiana University Wind Ensemble conducted by
Ray Cramer. She has also performed with the UNCG Jazz Ensemble, UNCG Symphony
Orchestra, Greensboro Philharmonia, and the Upland Saxophone Quartet. In recent
months, Stacy has enjoyed success in competitions at the local, regional, national and
international levels, having won the prestigious Music Teachers National Association
(MTNA) National Young Artist Competition in the Woodwind Division (2002-2003), the
Greensboro Music Teachers Association (GMTA) Young Artist Competition (2002), and the
UNCG Annual Concerto Competition (2002). She has recently been selected as a finalist
in the Kingsville International Young Artist Competition.
Ināra Zandmane is the staff accompanist at UNCG. She holds the BM and MM from
Latvian Academy of Music, MM in piano performance from Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale, and DMA in piano performance from the University of Missouri at Kansas City
where her piano professor was Richard Cass. Ms. Zandmane has performed in recitals in
St. Paul, Kansas City, Cleveland, St. Louis, and New York, as well as in many Republics of
the former Soviet Union. In April 2000, she was invited to perform at the Glenn Gould
Studio in Toronto and has appeared as a soloist with the Latvian National Orchestra,
Liepāja Symphony, Latvian Academy of Music Student Orchestra, SIU Symphony, and
UMKC Conservatory Symphony and Chamber orchestras. She has performed with various
chamber ensembles at the International Chamber Music Festivals in Rīga, Vilnius, Tallinn,
Helsinki (Finland), and Norrtelje (Sweden). Recent performances include collaboration with
the Kansas City Chorale on Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzer (2002), appearances with the
contemporary music ensemble New Ear (2001 and 2003), and recitals with Michel Debost,
Paul Coletti, and Jim Walker. For a few last years, Ināra Zandmane has worked together
with Latvian composer Peteris Vasks. She has given Latvian premieres of his two latest
piano pieces, Landscapes of the Burnt-out Earth and The Spring Music, and recorded the
first of them on the Conifer Classics label.
1:00 PM Dr. Ed Riley: “Saxophone Mouthpiece Basics”
2:00 PM Adam McCord, alto saxophone
Elizabeth Loparits, Ināra Zandmane, piano
Prelude, Cadence et Finale Alfred Desenclos
(1912-1971)
Wings Joan Tower
(b. 1938)
Sonata, op. 29 Robert Muczynski
Andante maestoso (b. 1929)
Allegro energico
Stacy Wilson, alto saxophone
Ināra Zandmane, piano
from Sonata William Albright
III. Scherzo (b. 1944)
IV. Recitative and Dance
from Six Studies in English Folksong Ralph Vaughan Williams
I. (1872-1958)
II.
VI.
Balafon Christian Lauba
(b. 1952)
Pequena Czardas Pedro Itturalde
(b. 1929)
3:00 PM Curt Altarac: “Saxophone repair, from the basic to most advanced”
4:00 PM Assembly Saxophone Quartet
Sid Tyner, soprano · Aaron Gantt, alto
Lauren Meccia, tenor · Adam Estes, baritone
Blow Perry Goldstein
Quatuor Alfred Desenclos
Allegro non troppo (1912-1971)
Calmo
Poco largo, ma risoluto
Eric Gargrave, alto saxophone
Suite Rhapsodica Jindrich Feld
Introduction (b. 1925)
Aria
Scherzino
Fugue
Dumas Saxophone Quartet
Drew Hays, soprano · Chris Dickhaus, alto
Brent Davis, tenor · Michael Griffith, baritone
Motherless Child Variations Perry Goldstein
Quatuor Claude Pascal
Animé (b. 1921)
Choral
Valse
Vif
5:00 PM Red Clay Saxophone Quartet
Susan Fancher, soprano · Robert Faub, alto
Steven Stusek, tenor · Mark Engebretson, baritone
Zwölf Variationen ‘Ah, vous dirai-je Maman’, K. 265 W.A. Mozart/arr. Boatman
Night Light (Quartet No. 3) M. William Karlins
Night Time (b. 1932)
Nightmare
Night Club
Night Owl
Suite française Francis Poulenc
Bransle de Bourgagne (1899-1963)
Pavane
Petite marche militaire
Complainte
Bransle de Champagne
Sicilienne
Carillon
and is currently instructor of saxophone at the Music Academy of North Carolina and
frequent saxophonist and clarinetist with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. Prior to
coming to the East coast, Eric was on the faculties of Southeast Missouri State University,
the University of Missouri-Columbia, and Indiana University. As visiting instructor he has
taught at the University of Wisconsin¹s Indianhead Arts Center and at the Australian Winds¹
National Music Camp at Broken Bay in New South Wales, Australia. As a student of world-renowned
artists Eugene Rousseau and James Campbell at Indiana University, Eric
received the School of Music¹s prestigious Performer¹s Certificate and distinguished
himself academically as a recipient of a graduate fellowship. His solo debut in 1991 with the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Glazounov¹s Concerto received rave reviews from the
Chicago Tribune. In 1995, he was invited as a guest of the German government to attend
and perform in concerts of music for saxophone and wind quintet at the Villa Musica
Chamber music festival in Mainz, Germany. Notable recent engagements include
appearances with the Missouri Wind Quintet, Buder Brass Quintet, in recital as a guest of
the St. Louis Artist Presentation Society, and a solo appearance with the Compton Heights
Concert Band at Orchestra Hall, St. Louis. Aside from performing, Eric¹s current research
interest focuses on the use of the saxophone in the music of Leonard Bernstein. Eric is
married to oboist and businesswoman Ann-Renee Gargrave. Together they enjoy their
son, Micah, running, and biking.
Adam R. McCord is currently Associate Instructor of Saxophone at Indiana University
where he is pursuing the Doctor of Music degree in Saxophone Performance, studying with
Otis Murphy. Adam recently received the Master of Music degree in Saxophone
Performance from Indiana University, also earning the prestigious Performer’s Certificate,
IU’s highest performance honor. Adam received the Bachelor of Music degree, summa
cum laude, in Saxophone Performance and Music Education from the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro, where his primary teachers were Steven Stusek and Craig
Whittaker. He is the past winner of the IU Woodwind Concerto Competition and performed
Roger Muczynski's Concerto, op. 41 with the IU University Orchestra. While at UNCG,
Adam was winner of the Concerto Competition, performing Roger Boutry's Divertimento
with the Symphony Orchestra. He has won state and regional honors in both the Music
Teacher's National Association collegiate chamber music and solo woodwind competitions.
Adam participated in the 2003 International Saxophone Chamber Music Festival held in
Faenza, Italy, and performed concerts in Ravenna, Brisighella, Tredozio, and Faenza, Italy.
He has participated in the XIII World Saxophone Congress in Minneapolis, regional and
national North American Saxophone Alliance conferences, and has performed with the
Winston-Salem Symphony, the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, the UNCG Symphony
Orchestra, the Bloomington Camerata, the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and the
Indiana University Philharmonic. In his free time, he enjoys relaxing with his fiancée and
playing with his cat, Riley.
Dr. Edwin Riley is a nationally known recitalist, soloist, and clinician. He received his B.M.
and M.S. degrees from The Juilliard School and his D.M.A. degree from the University of
Iowa. His teachers include Bernard Portnoy, Joseph Allard, George Silfies, and Himie
Voxman. Formerly, Dr. Riley played in the American Symphony under Leopold Stokowski,
and was principal clarinet in the Cedar Rapids Symphony (Iowa). He also played clarinet in
the Atlanta Opera Orchestra. Dr. Riley currently teaches clarinet both at UNC Greensboro
and at UNC Chapel Hill. Since 2000, Dr. Riley plays assistant principal/2nd clarinet in the
Greensboro Symphony and plays regularly as a substitute for the North Carolina
Symphony. Most recently he plays principal clarinet in the Carolina Ballet. Dr. Riley plays
Selmer (Paris) clarinets and has been a national clinician with the Selmer Company since
1979. He has performed clinics at Midwest in Chicago, MENC, Texas Bandmasters, and
over 30 state and regional MENC conventions. Recently, he has given clinics, recitals and
master classes at over 100 universities, colleges, and conservatories throughout the US as
a part of a major educational project by the Conn-Selmer Co.
Symposium Host, and University of North Carolina-Greensboro Saxophone Professor
Steven Stusek has earned an international reputation for virtuosic performances of
standard and new works for the saxophone as well as for his engaging master classes and
clinics. A founding member of both the acclaimed Red Clay Sax Quartet and the UNCG
Quatuor d’Anches, he has won the prestigious Dutch Chamber Music Competition as part
of the saxophone-accordion duo 2Track with Dutch accordion player Otine van Erp, with
whom he performs frequently in the US and Holland. Along with degrees from Indiana
University (BM, DM) and Arizona State University (MM), Stusek has studied at the Paris
Conservatoire and the Conservatoire de la Région de Paris, where he earned the Prix d'Or
à l'Unanimité in Saxophone Performance. Some of his other awards include Semi-finalist in
the Concert Artists Guild Competition, winner, Indiana University Saxophone Concerto
Competition, and the Vermont Council on the Arts prize for Artistic Excellence. While in
Paris, he was in the saxophone class of Daniel Deffayet at the Paris Conservatory. Other
teachers include Jean-Yves Formeau, Eugene Rousseau, David Baker, Joseph Wytko and
Larry Teal.
Dr. Stusek has taught at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Indiana University, Arizona
Connie Frigo, saxophone · Rebecca Grausam, piano
Guest Recital
Sunday, October 31 · 5:30 pm
Recital Hall
Music of Fitz, Debussy, Engebretson, Corigliano, and Albright
For tickets, please contact the University Box Office at (336) 334.4849
performance
forthcomi
State University, Ball State University, and Middlebury College. He was director of Big
Band Utrecht (The Netherlands) and was a founding member of the Bozza Mansion
Project, an Amsterdam-based new music ensemble. He has premiered or had pieces
written for him by composers such as Joan Tower, James Grant, Allen Shawn, Eric
Nielsen, Dennis Kitz, Dorothy Robson, Daniel Michalak, Stacy Garrop, Mitchell Turner,
Eddie Bass, Greg Carroll, and academy award winner John Addison.
Stusek hosted the 2004 NASA biennial conference in Greensboro this past April. He is
also founder and host of the Carolina Saxophone Symposium, a day-long conference
dedicated to the highest level of saxophone performance and education. The CSS is open
to all saxophonists at no charge. In addition to being performing artist for the Vandoren and
Selmer companies, Stusek is on the faculty of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Academy.
The Red Clay Saxophone Quartet was formed in October of 2003 by four internationally
recognized saxophonists based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Susan Fancher, Robert
Faub, Steve Stusek and Mark Engebretson have distinguished themselves individually as
soloists and members of highly acclaimed chamber music ensembles. Susan Fancher has
15 years of experience as soprano saxophonist with the Vienna, Amherst and Rollin’
Phones saxophone quartets. Robert Faub has performed extensively throughout the US
and Europe as alto saxophonist with the New Century Saxophone Quartet. Steve Stusek,
saxophone professor at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, is an international
touring solo recitalist and chamber musician. Mark Engebretson is a veteran of the Vienna
Saxophone Quartet and is Assistant Professor of Music Composition at UNCG.
Susan Fancher’s tireless efforts to develop the repertoire for the saxophone have
produced dozens of commissioned works by contemporary composers, as well as
published transcriptions of music by composers as diverse as Josquin Desprez and Steve
Reich. She has worked with a multitude of composers in the creation and interpretation of
new music including Terry Riley, Michael Torke and Charles Wuorinen, to name just a few,
and has performed in many of the world’s leading concert venues and contemporary music
festivals. The most recent additions to her discography are a solo CD entitled Ponder
Nothing on the Innova label and a recording on New World Records of Forever Escher by
Paul Chihara. Susan Fancher is a regularly featured columnist for the nationally distributed
Saxophone Journal. Her principal teachers were Frederick Hemke, Jean-Marie Londeix,
Michael Grammatico and Joe Daley.
Robert Faub is an accomplished classical soloist, chamber musician and jazz artist. He
was formerly the alto saxophonist with the widely acclaimed New Century Saxophone
Quartet, with whom he performed extensively throughout the United States and in the
Netherlands. He appears on New Century’s recordings A New Century Christmas and
Standards. As a soloist, he gave the first performance of Ben Boone’s concerto Squeeze
with the University of South Carolina Symphony, adding to a long list of works he has
premiered. His recording of Andrew Simpson’s Exhortation, included on Arizona University
Recording's America's Millenial Tribute to Adolphe Sax, was “immaculately played,”
according to The Double Bassist magazine. Robert Faub currently teaches saxophone at
UNC Chapel Hill, is on the music theory faculty at UNC Greensboro, and appears regularly
with the North Carolina, Greensboro and Winston-Salem Symphonies.
Mark Engebretson is Assistant Professor of Composition and Electronic Music at the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A former resident of Vienna and Stockholm, he
has received numerous commissions from the Austrian Ministry of Culture, STIM (Sweden)
and the American Composers Forum Commissioning Program. His Duo Concertante was
recently premiered by the Wroclaw (Poland) Philharmonic. Mark Engebretson has
appeared twice as a concerto soloist with the Brno (Czech) Philharmonic Orchestra. He is
well represented as a composer and performer on the Innova label and has performed with
Klangforum Wien, Swedish percussionist Anders Åstrand and the Intergalactic
Contemporary Music Ensemble. His principle teachers were Michel Fuste-Lambezat,
Frederick Hemke, Jean-Marie Londeix, M. William Karlins, Pauline Oliveros, Marta
Ptaszynska, Michael Pisaro, Stephen Syverud and Jay Alan Yim.
Curt Altarac received a Bachelors in Music Ed. from SUNY Fredonia and his Masters
degree in Saxophone performance at the University of Southern Mississippi. As a musician,
Curt is active as a free lance musician, playing with The Port City Saxophones, and
teaching studio at the Wilmington Academy of Music. As a technician, Curt runs a complete
repair and supply business. Repairing saxophones for many top players in the US, news of
Curt Altarac's work is traveling fast. Curt has made key work improvements to many
saxophones, modified and improved their necks and certainly introduced new and
innovative materials we use to repair them. As a tech and owner of MusicMedic.com, Curt
is constantly searching for better materials and improving methods to use them. This
search has come to fruition in the form of Tech Cork, RooPads, SaxGourmet Pads,
improved tools and many other items we use. A goal of Curt's company is to educate the
player in the area of repair and maintenance. Curt has designed repair kits for the player
and continues to teach repair. He has given repair clinics to players at many major
universities around the US and will be giving repair clinics on advanced Saxophone repair
to technicians a two upcoming NAPBIRT conventions.
Connie Frigo, a recently appointed member of the New Century Saxophone Quartet,
brings an eclectic array of performing experience to NCSQ. As a former member of the
premiere United States Navy Band, Washington DC, she has performed extensively
throughout the U.S., as well as in Russia and Sweden. She performs frequently as an
invited solo artist at universities and national and international conferences. Under the
tutelage of Arno Bornkamp, Connie was a Fulbright Scholar to the Netherlands, where she
continues to collaborate with prominent Dutch composers. She has served on the faculties
of Ithaca College, the University of South Carolina, and the Levine School of Music in
Wash. DC. Her teachers include Steven Mauk, Debra Richtmeyer, Arno Bornkamp, and
Clifford Leaman.
Eric Gargrave is currently completing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in saxophone
performance at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, where he is a student of Dr.
Steven Stusek and a recipient of the Holderness Graduate Fellowship. In addition, Eric
recently completed a semester as Instructor of Saxophone at Radford University in Virginia,
Symposium Host, and University of North Carolina-Greensboro Saxophone Professor
Steven Stusek has earned an international reputation for virtuosic performances of
standard and new works for the saxophone as well as for his engaging master classes and
clinics. A founding member of both the acclaimed Red Clay Sax Quartet and the UNCG
Quatuor d’Anches, he has won the prestigious Dutch Chamber Music Competition as part
of the saxophone-accordion duo 2Track with Dutch accordion player Otine van Erp, with
whom he performs frequently in the US and Holland. Along with degrees from Indiana
University (BM, DM) and Arizona State University (MM), Stusek has studied at the Paris
Conservatoire and the Conservatoire de la Région de Paris, where he earned the Prix d'Or
à l'Unanimité in Saxophone Performance. Some of his other awards include Semi-finalist in
the Concert Artists Guild Competition, winner, Indiana University Saxophone Concerto
Competition, and the Vermont Council on the Arts prize for Artistic Excellence. While in
Paris, he was in the saxophone class of Daniel Deffayet at the Paris Conservatory. Other
teachers include Jean-Yves Formeau, Eugene Rousseau, David Baker, Joseph Wytko and
Larry Teal.
Dr. Stusek has taught at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Indiana University, Arizona
State University, Ball State University, and Middlebury College. He was director of Big
Band Utrecht (The Netherlands) and was a founding member of the Bozza Mansion
Project, an Amsterdam-based new music ensemble. He has premiered or had pieces
written for him by composers such as Joan Tower, James Grant, Allen Shawn, Eric
Nielsen, Dennis Kitz, Dorothy Robson, Daniel Michalak, Stacy Garrop, Mitchell Turner,
Eddie Bass, Greg Carroll, and academy award winner John Addison.
Stusek hosted the 2004 NASA biennial conference in Greensboro this past April. He is
also founder and host of the Carolina Saxophone Symposium, a day-long conference
dedicated to the highest level of saxophone performance and education. The CSS is open
to all saxophonists at no charge. In addition to being performing artist for the Vandoren and
Selmer companies, Stusek is on the faculty of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Academy.
The Red Clay Saxophone Quartet was formed in October of 2003 by four internationally
recognized saxophonists based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Susan Fancher, Robert
Faub, Steve Stusek and Mark Engebretson have distinguished themselves individually as
soloists and members of highly acclaimed chamber music ensembles. Susan Fancher has
15 years of experience as soprano saxophonist with the Vienna, Amherst and Rollin’
Phones saxophone quartets. Robert Faub has performed extensively throughout the US
and Europe as alto saxophonist with the New Century Saxophone Quartet. Steve Stusek,
saxophone professor at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, is an international
touring solo recitalist and chamber musician. Mark Engebretson is a veteran of the Vienna
Saxophone Quartet and is Assistant Professor of Music Composition at UNCG.
Susan Fancher’s tireless efforts to develop the repertoire for the saxophone have
produced dozens of commissioned works by contemporary composers, as well as
published transcriptions of music by composers as diverse as Josquin Desprez and Steve
Reich. She has worked with a multitude of composers in the creation and interpretation of
new music including Terry Riley, Michael Torke and Charles Wuorinen, to name just a few,
and has performed in many of the world’s leading concert venues and contemporary music
festivals. The most recent additions to her discography are a solo CD entitled Ponder
Nothing on the Innova label and a recording on New World Records of Forever Escher by
Paul Chihara. Susan Fancher is a regularly featured columnist for the nationally distributed
Saxophone Journal. Her principal teachers were Frederick Hemke, Jean-Marie Londeix,
Michael Grammatico and Joe Daley.
Robert Faub is an accomplished classical soloist, chamber musician and jazz artist. He
was formerly the alto saxophonist with the widely acclaimed New Century Saxophone
Quartet, with whom he performed extensively throughout the United States and in the
Netherlands. He appears on New Century’s recordings A New Century Christmas and
Standards. As a soloist, he gave the first performance of Ben Boone’s concerto Squeeze
with the University of South Carolina Symphony, adding to a long list of works he has
premiered. His recording of Andrew Simpson’s Exhortation, included on Arizona University
Recording's America's Millenial Tribute to Adolphe Sax, was “immaculately played,”
according to The Double Bassist magazine. Robert Faub currently teaches saxophone at
UNC Chapel Hill, is on the music theory faculty at UNC Greensboro, and appears regularly
with the North Carolina, Greensboro and Winston-Salem Symphonies.
Mark Engebretson is Assistant Professor of Composition and Electronic Music at the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A former resident of Vienna and Stockholm, he
has received numerous commissions from the Austrian Ministry of Culture, STIM (Sweden)
and the American Composers Forum Commissioning Program. His Duo Concertante was
recently premiered by the Wroclaw (Poland) Philharmonic. Mark Engebretson has
appeared twice as a concerto soloist with the Brno (Czech) Philharmonic Orchestra. He is
well represented as a composer and performer on the Innova label and has performed with
Klangforum Wien, Swedish percussionist Anders Åstrand and the Intergalactic
Contemporary Music Ensemble. His principle teachers were Michel Fuste-Lambezat,
Frederick Hemke, Jean-Marie Londeix, M. William Karlins, Pauline Oliveros, Marta
Ptaszynska, Michael Pisaro, Stephen Syverud and Jay Alan Yim.
Curt Altarac received a Bachelors in Music Ed. from SUNY Fredonia and his Masters
degree in Saxophone performance at the University of Southern Mississippi. As a musician,
Curt is active as a free lance musician, playing with The Port City Saxophones, and
teaching studio at the Wilmington Academy of Music. As a technician, Curt runs a complete
repair and supply business. Repairing saxophones for many top players in the US, news of
Curt Altarac's work is traveling fast. Curt has made key work improvements to many
saxophones, modified and improved their necks and certainly introduced new and
innovative materials we use to repair them. As a tech and owner of MusicMedic.com, Curt
is constantly searching for better materials and improving methods to use them. This
search has come to fruition in the form of Tech Cork, RooPads, SaxGourmet Pads,
improved tools and many other items we use. A goal of Curt's company is to educate the
player in the area of repair and maintenance. Curt has designed repair kits for the player
and continues to teach repair. He has given repair clinics to players at many major
universities around the US and will be giving repair clinics on advanced Saxophone repair
to technicians a two upcoming NAPBIRT conventions.
Connie Frigo, a recently appointed member of the New Century Saxophone Quartet,
brings an eclectic array of performing experience to NCSQ. As a former member of the
premiere United States Navy Band, Washington DC, she has performed extensively
throughout the U.S., as well as in Russia and Sweden. She performs frequently as an
invited solo artist at universities and national and international conferences. Under the
tutelage of Arno Bornkamp, Connie was a Fulbright Scholar to the Netherlands, where she
continues to collaborate with prominent Dutch composers. She has served on the faculties
of Ithaca College, the University of South Carolina, and the Levine School of Music in
Wash. DC. Her teachers include Steven Mauk, Debra Richtmeyer, Arno Bornkamp, and
Clifford Leaman.
Eric Gargrave is currently completing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in saxophone
performance at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, where he is a student of Dr.
Steven Stusek and a recipient of the Holderness Graduate Fellowship. In addition, Eric
recently completed a semester as Instructor of Saxophone at Radford University in Virginia,