NEC Saxophone Ensemble: Villa Lobos & Schoenberg

Heitor Villa-Lobos (arr. Jorge Hoyo) | Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1

Introdução (Embolada)
Prelúdio (Modinha)
Fuga (Conversa)

Villa-Lobos’Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1, a magnificent tribute to Bach in a Brazilian style and with a beautiful and timeless melody in the second movement, was first written for an orchestra of celli and is adapted here by Jorge Hoyo for an ensemble of twenty-four saxophones.  All performers are members of Radnofsky’s saxophone classes in the NEC College, Continuing Education and Preparatory School divisions, ages ranging 13-25.

Many thanks to Conrad Kline at Azure Sound for producing this recording. Conrad is a former member of the NEC Saxophone Class and is an NEC MM graduate.

Jorge Hoyo is a leading performer of contemporary and classical music for saxophone. He is equally interested in promoting 20th century music as well as collaborating with composers to develop a musical language for the 21st century. He is co-founder of EMAC, a Mexico-City based ensemble dedicated to contemporary music.
        He recently presented a series of concerts with a full program of pieces commissioned or dedicated to him. The composers represented in this repertoire are Joan Tower (USA), Juan Campoverde (Ecuador), Pedro Rivadeneira (Argentina), Otto Castro (Costa Rica), Enrique Mendoza and Eitan Ciralksy (Mexico).
        He has lived in Mexico City since 2013, where he teaches and performs regularly.

Personnel

NEC Combined Saxophone Ensemble
(College student unless otherwise noted)

Alto 1
Megan Dillon, Haozheng Lyu, Jinghao Li
Matthew Fishman ‡, Daniel Gliksberg #, Jayme Billings #

Alto 2
Rayna DeYoung, Chuze Sun, Ethan Shen
Guanlong Shen, Yingjie Hong, Madison Massad #, Noah Li #

Tenor
Alexis Aguilar, Jordan Roach, Xiquan Zuo
Elizabeth Seward #, Ethan Kasparian Weisman #, Davi Rangel #

Baritone
Lila Searls, Juchen Wang, Leo Thanyasirin

Michael Xing #, Evan Coons #

‡ NEC Continuing Education
# NEC Preparatory School

Arnold Schoenberg (arr. Joseph Bozich) | Verklärte Nacht, op. 4

Arnold Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night (1899) stretched tonality to its absolute limit. It is an historic piece representing a figurative end to romanticism and a new beginning (at the very least for Schoenberg and his followers). Tonight’s performance again uses the homogeneity of the saxophone family in place of strings as we present the original version, op. 4, arranged by Joseph Bozich.

Special thanks to the Boston Woodwind Society and a grant from John Rabinowitz for aid in this production

Personnel

NEC Saxophone Ensemble

Soprano
Joseph Bozich (guest), Bennett Parsons *

Alto
Alexis Aguilar

Tenor
Megan Dillon

Baritone
Lucas Barry *, Morgan Smallwood *

* NEC alumni