The Friday Noon Concert Series
presents
Doug O'Connor, saxophone
Jeff Stern, percussion
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC - RSVP required
(limited seating available)
Program
Karakurenai (2007), for steelpan (saxophone) and marimba - Andy Akiho
how sweet the thought of you as infinite, (2019) for marimba and electronics - Emma O'Halloran
Naica (2011), for alto saxophone and electronics - Viet Cuong
Unity Synonym (2019, rev. 2023), for alto saxophone and marimba - Michael Laurello
Artists' Bios:
Saxophonist Doug O’Connor is passionate about sharing music that challenges audiences to explore, connect, and grow. His performances push the athletic limits of the saxophone and feature music from all eras and in many styles, including classical, contemporary, jazz, and electronic. He strives to champion new works, present adventurous and innovative chamber music, and perform with an improvisatory command of music from Bach to Coltrane. O’Connor honed his artistic mission while performing on the Astral Artists roster from 2003 to 2013 and completing his training at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned his MM and DMA degrees in 2008 and 2012, and eventually went on to serve as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Saxophone in the fall of 2017. In addition, he served as Associate Lecturer of Saxophone at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire, as a saxophonist with the United States Naval Academy Band, and since 2016 as a saxophonist with the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” He is proud to be a co-founder of the Global Premiere Consortium Commissioning Project, an online platform for instigating the composition, dissemination, and performance of new music worldwide, and he is soon to become Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the Peabody Institute. www.dougoconnor.com
Known for performing “with precision and an impressive attention to timbral detail” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), percussionist Jeff Stern has developed a voice to listen for in today’s contemporary music scene. He has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, and has collaborated with a number of the world’s preeminent composers. Recent premieres include Alejandro Viñao’s Stress and Flow with The Percussion Collective, James Wood’s Secret Dialogues for solo marimba, and John Luther Adams’ Sila at Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors Festival.
Stern is the executive director, co-artistic director, and founding percussionist of icarus Quartet, a 2 piano/2 percussion group and winner of the 2019 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. He has appeared at the Yellow Barn Music Festival, the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Lake George Music Festival, and the Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab, and can be heard on the Albany, Elm City, Bright Shiny Things, figureight, Furious Artisans, and Cantaloupe record labels.
Stern serves as Lecturer in Percussion at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and is on the faculty of the Luzerne Music Center. He holds degrees from UMass Amherst, the Peabody Conservatory, and the Yale School of Music. Stern is a proud artist endorser of Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Zildjian cymbals, Evans drumheads, and Pearl/Adams drums and percussion. www.sternpercussion.com
Lunch is available for members after the concert
