SAXOPHONE
at Indiana University Southeast
Over the past decade, the Indiana University Southeast Music Department has emerged as a visible leader in the recording, promotion, and dissemination of music for the saxophone. Through the efforts of its record label, New Dynamic Records, IU Southeast has recorded seventeen works by both known and unknown composers, featuring the performances by the most notable soloists and quartets from around the world. Our videos (see below) have been viewed by more than 10,000 viewers world wide, with sales in Japan, Europe, Australia, and the United States. IU Southeast has also started an annual workshop in order to expand its efforts in offering dedicated saxophonists the chance to exchange ideas, learn techniques, and perform new works. Each year, saxophonists will also have a chance to work with a composer-in-residence in addition to other possible collaborations with student composers. We hope you will check out the recording projects and performances we've had over the years or visit our record label's site at http://www.NewDynamicRecords.com.
Spiritual Overdrive featuring the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet
One of the most fascinating characteristics of music is its power to transform one's state of mind or perspective of the world. Spiritual Overdrive captures this power and invites the listener to experience music that ranges from the tranquil and meditative (spiritual) to the fast and furious (overdrive).
Like the title, these two seemingly opposing sound worlds are combined onto one release through the works of six composers from around the world - Gavin Bryars, Graham Fitkin, David Froom, Joey Roukens, Jacob ter Veldhuis, and Ian Wilson. I am pleased to note that the music on this CD is brought to life by our first featured ensemble, The Aurelia Saxophone Quartet.
The members of the group, Johan van der Linden (soprano saxophone), Niels Bijl (alto saxophone), Arno Bornkamp (tenor/soprano saxophone), and Willem van Merwijk (baritone saxophone), perform each piece with the highest level of passion and technical brilliance.
Breath Beneath featuring the PRISM Saxophone Quartet
One of the most versatile instruments in the woodwind family, the saxophone has sparked the imagination of composers of every stripe since its invention by Adolph Sax in 1841. Some draw upon the pure, lyrical quality of the saxophone's tone while others make use of its abstract, sometimes dissonant sound capabilities to explore new aesthetic terrain. In this release, composers are inspired by a variety of sonic sources: the human voice in Kati Agocs's Coloratura, the underlying hum of a dense city in Kristin Kuster's Breath Beneath, and the flavor of Middle Eastern music in Roshanne Etezady's Keen. Ross Feller, Zack Browning, and Rand Steiger look to more abstract and personal sources in the creation of their works. Together, the music on this release offers a snapshot of the many moods and sound worlds that the saxophone, alone and in combination, can produce. New Dynamic Records is privileged to share this disc of our featured ensemble, the renowned PRISM Quartet, with listeners around the world. Through their artistry and virtuosity, the members of PRISM -- Timothy McAllister (soprano saxophone), Zachary Shemon (alto saxophone), Matthew Levy (tenor saxophone), and Taimur Sullivan (baritone saxophone) -- bring these incredibly challenging works to life.
Journey featuring Cory Barnfield and Krista Wallace-Boaz
"To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom." This quote, found in one of Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays entitled Experience (Essays: Second Series, 1844), is part of a larger reflection of the human experience. 
Contradictions, illusions, and one's purpose prompt examinations about the self that, when contemplated, often result in more questions--ones that have been approached by philosophers and artists over the centuries. In this release, New Dynamic Records presents soloist Cory Barnfield's answers to life's questions in his musical version of the Emersonian "journey" via six personally selected works. The route goes from the inner turmoil felt in John Anthony Lennon's Distances Within Me to the spiritual quest of Steven Fry's Oh, I Want To Know You More. He is joined with pianist Krista Wallace-Boaz in a powerful and masterful recording of these works featuring four other pieces: Ida Gotkovsky's Brilliance, Gregory W. Yasinitsky's Sixth Sense, Pedro Iturralde's Pequena Czarda, and a new work dedicated to Barnfield by composer Perry Goldstein, Kaleidoscope. We were especially pleased to have clarinetist JJ Koh and bassoonist Scott Erickson take part in the premiere recording of Goldstein's piece.
