NEC Saxophone Ensemble: Francine Trester premiere & Dvořák

Francine Trester | Her Lines (2022)

World Premiere
                               
Awake
All About Me
Reflection
Goal

Rayna DeYoung, Guangcong Chen, soprano saxophone
Megan Dillon, alto saxophone
Alexis Aguilar, Guanlong Shen, Daihua Long, tenor saxophone
Juchen Wang, Jinghao Li, baritone saxophone
Kenneth Radnofsky, conductor

Program note and Bio

Her Lines was commissioned by Megan Dillon for the 2022 New England Symposium for Female-Identifying Saxophonists. It is for 2 soprano, one alto, 2 tenor, and 2 baritone saxophones. The alto functions as a sort of soloist within the ensemble, and features a different coloristic element/extended technique in each movement.

The movements are based on four quotes:

Awake

We are awake
With thousands and thousands of fears and fears
Until dawn
         – women in Zaranj

All About Me

All about me
I am good at: hula hooping
I would like to learn: math
        –  from my daughter's pre-school yearbook

Reflection

We all reflect each other
We are all created in the image of one another
Everyone has something to give
      – Tania León

Goal 

My goal today
Was just to go in, for people to think
Who the hell is this girl?
      – 2021 U.S. marathoner and bronze medalist Molly Seidel

 The first movement, "Awake," is a quote from a letter written by a group of women in Zarang, the provincial capital of Nimroz, Afghanistan and the first to fall to the Taliban. The melody Milli Surood, the former national anthem of Afghanistan (before being banned by the Taliban) is woven into this movement and then referenced, in part, in the three movements that follow.

 The second movement, "All About Me," is a quote from my daughter's preschool yearbook. It's a youthful celebration of "hula-hooping," and then she mentions her aspiration to learn math. Math is a subject she is fortunate to be able to learn in this country - and one she has been encouraged to pursue. With reference to mathematics, there's a bit of an additive process at work toward the end of the movement.

The third movement, "Reflection," is a quote from composer Tania León. I came across this beautiful statement of hers while reading about her recent Pulitzer Prize. The imitation and interplay, mirror writing, and multiphonics here are meant to reflect León's own mentioning of "reflection" - how we "all reflect each other," how we all "have something to give."

The final movement, "Goal," is a quote from 2021 U.S. marathoner and bronze medalist Molly Seidel. It's a punchy retort to her detractors. The movement's overall driving motion is interspersed with memories from the previous movements. After some flutter tonguing and growling, the alto has the last say - punctuating the end of the music with an emphatic descending major seventh.

Praised as “compelling” and “thought-provoking” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer, Francine Trester’s A Walk In Her Shoes was premiered this past September by Boston Landmarks Orchestra at the Hatch Memorial Shell. Also recently, her chamber opera Florence Comes Home, about legendary composer Florence Price, was commissioned by Shelter Music Boston and described by the Intelligencer as “meaningful…wide and comprehensive.” Trester’s work has been performed nationally and internationally, and featured at Faneuil Hall, Jordan Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Louvre.
        The Bach, Beethoven and Brahms Society premiered Trester’s orchestral version of Street Views at Faneuil Hall, with soloists Kenneth Radnofsky and Elmira Darvarova, and the piano trio version of this piece was performed with pianist Thomas Weaver. Reminiscence: 3 Meditations on Friendship – Dedicated to the Memory of Darryl Malone, for saxophone and piano, was commissioned by World-Wide Concurrent Premieres and Commissioning Fund, Inc. and premiered in 2019. Her composition This, premiered this past July; commissioned by the Boston Woodwind Society, the work features both her words and music and was written for the Kalliope Reed Quintet.
        Trester earned her doctoral, masters and undergraduate degrees from Yale University and was a composition student of Jacob Druckman and Martin Bresnick, and a violin student of Syoko Aki. As a recipient of a Fulbright fellowship, Trester also studied composition with Alexander Goehr at Cambridge University. Her music is recorded on Affetto/Naxos and Stone Records labels and available through the American Composers Alliance. www.francinetrester.com

Antonín Dvořák | from Slavonic Dances, op. 46

No. 1 in C Major: Furiant

Megan Dillon, Guangcong Chen, soprano saxophone
Rayna DeYoung, Yingjie Hong, Megan Trach, alto saxophone
Alexis Aguilar, Jade Wu, Guanlong Shen, Daihua Song, tenor saxophone
Juchen Wang, Jinghao Li, baritone saxophone      

Antonín Dvořák | Serenade for Winds

Moderato
Minuetto
Andante con moto
Finale

Megan Dillon, soprano saxophone
Rayna DeYoung, Yingjie Hong, Guangcong Chen, Megan Trach, alto saxophone
Alexis Aguilar, Jade Wu, Guanlong Shen, Daihua Song, tenor saxophone
Juchen Wang, Jinghao Li, baritone saxophone