Yuuka Nakamura, saxophone

GUEST ARTIST RECITAL

Yuuka Nakamura

alto saxophone

Patricia Grimm, piano

Ricardo Martinez, saxophone

Saturday, September 9, 2023

12:00 pm

Recital Hall

Sicilienne (1944)

Sonata in C-Sharp (1943)

Très modéré, espressif

Andante

Fileuse

Nocturne et final

One Summer’s Day (2001)

Pierre Lantier (1910–1998)

Fernande Decruck (1896–1954)

Joe Hisaishi (b. 1950) (arr. Mizuki Yanagawa)

Suite for Saxophone Duo (2011)

Player Prayer

Interplayer

Ricardo Martinez, soprano saxophone

Pequeña Czarda (1982)

You Nishimura (b. 1966)

Pedro Iturralde (1929–2020)

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Japanese saxophonist and arranger Yuuka Nakamura graduated from Musashino Art University majoring in saxophone performance. In 2010 Nakamura studied abroad in France at the Chartres Conservatory where she was unanimously awarded the top prize in saxophone. Nakamura has won prizes at domestic and international competitions, including second place in the Paris Saxophone Competition. Nakamura studied saxophone with Katsuki Tochio, Yoshiyuki Hattori, and Erwan Fagant, as well as jazz with Cristophe Beuzer, Jean-Jacques Rhulmann, and Wataru Hamasaki.

Currently based in Japan, Nakamura has maintained an active performing schedule of performances and workshops not only domestically but also internationally in France, Spain, and Singapore. An avid chamber musician, Nakamura is soprano saxophonist of the Urban Saxophone Quartet and alto saxophonist of Trio Les Elles, a trio ensemble made up of two saxophones and piano. She has been actively collaborating with other genres, including K Ballet's Ballet Gents led by Tetsuya Kumakawa.

Patricia Grimm holds a Bachelor of Music degree in sacred music with organ concentration from Duquesne University, a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Kent State University, and a Master of Music degree in collaborative piano from the Hartt School of Music. She also studied piano with Jonathan Feldman at the Juilliard School. As a collaborative pianist, Grimm has performed at the Edinburgh International Music Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland; the Trinity Wall Street Music Series in New York City; and chamber music concerts at the Musica no Museu Festival of Winds, Rio de Janeiro's Museum of Modern Art, and the Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Unirio). She regularly performs throughout the United States as a collaborative pianist and chamber musician. Prior to moving to Sacramento in 2013, she was a freelance collaborative pianist in the New York City metropolitan area and staff accompanist at Central Connecticut State University, in addition to maintaining an active private teaching studio.

Grimm currently serves as organist at Fremont Presbyterian Church in Sacramento. At University of the Pacific, she teaches sight singing, collaborative piano, and serves as a collaborative pianist with students, faculty, and guest artists.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Ricardo Martinez is assistant professor of practice in saxophone at University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music, where he also teaches courses in musicianship and music appreciation. Martinez began his saxophone studies in the Bay Area under David Henderson of Stanford University and William Trimble, and he earned degrees at the University of Minnesota and in France at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Cergy-Pontoise. He received the Médaille d’Or in saxophone at the Conservatoire, graduating with honors in chamber music. Martinez later completed graduate work at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the guidance of Otis Murphy and studied with the esteemed Japanese saxophonist Nobuya Sugawa at the Hamamatsu International Wind Academy and Festival.

Martinez was featured soloist with the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San José, Stanford Summer Symphony, University of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Cergy-Pontoise Wind Ensemble in France, and Mitaka City Orchestra in Japan. In addition, Martinez has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, California Symphony, Classical Tahoe, Music in the Mountains, and San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and he has recorded at Skywalker Ranch in California. An avid chamber musician, Martinez won the grand prize in the 2019 Plowman Chamber Music Competition, first prize in the 2017 Chicago Woodwind Ensemble Competition, and first prize in the 2015 East Central Division MTNA Chamber Music Competition. Martinez is an endorsing artist for Legere Reeds and BG France.