Dr. Jeff Vickers, assistant professor of music, recently attended the North American Saxophone Alliance’s Biennial National Conference. The conference was held March 2-6, 2010, at the University of Georgia in Athens. He was a selected performer as both a soloist and as a member of the newly formed “Echo Rogue” sax quartet.
Vickers gave world premiere performances of two new pieces for tenor saxophone that were written exclusively for him. The first, titled “Cracked,” was written by BYU faculty member Dr. Neil Thornock. The piece explores microtonality, typically non-Western tones in music. The concept of “Cracked” is the systematic breakdown of a machine.
The second piece, “Arriflex 35,” was written by Italian composer Claudio Gabriele. This piece includes an electroacoustic accompaniment track with extended, non-traditional saxophone techniques that were recorded by Vickers. Gabriele altered the sounds to match the written, live solo. It is an homage to Italian Neo-Realism from the mid-20th century.
The Echo Rogue sax quartet also performed a work by Gabriele, entitled “Shift Shaf.” This contemporary saxophone quartet employs various non-traditional, extended techniques, including whispering through the instruments.
Lastly, Echo Rogue gave the North American premiere of “Schneelicht – beben weiss” by Luxembourgian composer Camille Kerger. This piece is unique in that it begins with four soprano saxophones, and later the performers switch to the more traditional instrumentation of soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.
Both international composers gave highly complementary remarks, and videos of the quartet performances are available on YouTube.
