This preview has been provided by the Duke Music Department.

Thursday, April 17
8 pm  —  Baldwin Auditorium, Duke University
Free admission.  Info: 919-660-3333 or http://music.duke.edu

The Duke Wind Symphony, directed by Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant, presents the world premiere of David Kirkland Garner’s Soprano Saxophone Concerto with Susan Fancher, soloist. The concert also includes works by Shostakovich, Steven Bryant, John Mackey, and selections from The Lord of the Rings by Johan de Meij.

David Kirkland Garner’s compositions exist on a continuum of quotation and experimentation, drawing on pre-existing material to create music that is familiar yet unconventional. Utilizing banjo to bagpipes, gamelan to old-time music as inspiration, David has worked with world-renowned ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet, which commissioned and premiered Lament for the imagined in Scotland in 2011. David won first prizes in the OSSIA, RED NOTE and NACUSA competitions and recieved a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2014 and an ASCAP Young Composer Award in 2009. His music has been performed by the Ciompi Quartet, Vega Quartet, Locrian Chamber Players, San Diego Symphony, Wet Ink Ensemble, Boston New Music Initiative, and Eastman’s OSSIA new music ensemble. David will receive his Ph.D. in Composition from Duke University in May.

Susan Fancher is known for her deep and poetic musical interpretations. Critics have called her “one of the reigning wonders of the saxophone” and praise her “sweet expressive tone.”  A much sought after performer of new music, she has inspired and premiered dozens of new works for saxophone. Most recently, she has championed a new repertoire of concertos for soprano saxophone.  Her May 2013 CD release Of Erthe and Air: Susan Fancher and friends play music of Hilary Tann (Arizona University Records CD 5014) features a live performance of Tann’s soprano saxophone concerto with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra.  The 2013-2014 season includes the premiere of a new soprano saxophone concerto, based on Celtic themes, by David Kirkland Garner.