ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sara Powell, Saxophone
Sara Powell is a concert saxophonist native of Lewisberry, Pennsylvania. Sara received her Bachelor of Music and is currently working on her Master of Music in Saxophone Performance at the Wells School of Music at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Music has been a part of Sara’s life for a long time. At the age of five, Sara started playing piano and continued lessons for many years. She started her saxophone endeavors at nine years old on alto and transitioned to tenor saxophone as her primary instrument at 12. Sara attended Red Land High School in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania and was involved in the band and choir programs within the school. At the Wells School of Music, Sara has been studying with Jonathan Ragonese for the last six years and has been an active participant in West Chester University’s Wind Ensemble, Chamber Winds, Saxophone Ensemble, saxophone quartets, and many other chamber music groups. The WCU Wind Ensemble, directed by Andrew Yozviak, has given Sara countless opportunities. She is on three different CD’s that the Wind Ensemble has recorded including Cenotaph (2020), Ribbons (2022), and one to come in 2025. In summer of 2022 Sara traveled to southern Germany with the wind ensemble and had many performance opportunities. Sara completed her undergraduate program only studying tenor saxophone, but in the past several years she has been exploring the soprano and alto saxophones. After graduating, Sara taught private piano, saxophone, and clarinet lessons In between degrees, Sara had the opportunity to be a featured soloist with the Camp Hill United Methodist Church Bell Choir for a performance at the Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion for a holiday open house in December of 2023. Sara frequently is asked to perform with the church's orchestra, choir, and bell choir, on a variety of instruments and vocals. Sara takes pleasure in performing contemporary classical music, especially works using extended techniques that highlight unique ways of creating sounds out of the saxophone Sara is a proud member of the North American Saxophone Alliance and hopes to gain opportunities from the organization. Sara is a dedicated supporter of women and non-binary people in music and strives to make the music community a more welcoming space. She strives to create a safe space for her students and colleagues to be creative and express themselves meaningfully.
DUOCONCERTANTPOURDXSAXOPHONESOP. 55(1858)
Jean Baptiste Singelée was the first notable composer to develop serious classical works for the saxophone Long time friend Adolphe Sax (inventor of the saxophone) encouraged Singelée to compose for four principal saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone) and create a quartet Singelée wrote his Premier Quatour, Op. 53, in 1857, dedicated to Adolphe Sax He paved the way for the saxophone to grow and become more successful in solo, chamber, and concert settings. Singelée’s Duo for soprano and alto saxophones is accompanied by piano The opening statement is a robust unison sixteenth note line between the two saxophone voices, with a fanfare-like piano entrance. The piece continues with the soprano and alto voices passing the melody back and forth through arpeggiations and continuous moving lines. The main theme continues to come back in different variations, each slightly different than before.
CIRCUSPARADE(1965)
French Composer Pierre Max Dubois was a student of Darius Milhaud and studied composition at the Paris Conservatoire from 1949 to 1953. He composed a variety of music for saxophone ranging from etudes, quartets, duos, and solo works. Dubois composed this duo for alto saxophone and percussion in 1965 and continues to remain a prominent addition to the repertoire even with its unique quality. Dubois reflects a light-hearted character within this piece using unusual harmonic and melodic textures. This piece is march-like yet virtuosic which can be very contrasting but instead, Dubois finds a way to make unity within the bizarre. Circus Parade features complex rhythms, multiple time signature changes, and chromaticism.
QUATOURPOURSAXOPHONES(1964)
French composer Alfred Desenclos’ music can be described as highly expressive and rooted in compositional technique. Desenclos’ Quatour Pour Saxophones was composed and commissioned by the French Parliament for the Marcel Mule Quartet in 1964. Just a few years after this piece was created, Desenclos became the director of the Conservatoire of Roubaix, and taught harmony at the Paris Conservatoire from 1967 until he passed away in 1971. Quatour Pour Saxophones is comprised of three contrasting movements. The first movement uses two contrasting themes. The first theme begins the movement with its agitated nature with the melodic line being led by the soprano voice. The line is passed between all four voices through arpeggiations and melodic gestures. The second theme is relaxed and sweet but always returns to the agitated theme. Desenclos uses a lot of eccentric and colorful harmonies to develop both themes. The second movement is slow and languid with the soprano voice leading the dream-like melody. The bottom three voices begin to interrupt the stillness of the composition with syncopated passages. The ending of this movement creates this contemplative atmosphere after a more agitated build of energy. The third movement begins with staccato unison rhythms that are bombastic in nature. Syncopation is used frequently throughout this movement through energetic passages. All four voices imitate one another by passing melodies found throughout the entire piece.