Award-winning sax quartet to premier new works at free concert
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
The award-winning h2 quartet will offer a diverse menu of music ranging from Americana and jazz-influenced compositions to liturgical and Slavic folk music during a free concert at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4 in the Seretean Center Concert Hall.
The quartet, which is made up of commercially-accomplished saxophone faculty from three universities, was co-founded by OSU associate professor Jeffrey Loeffert and has been wowing audiences since 2002 by taking advantage of the great expressive capacity of the instrument in surprising and compelling ways. It has performed throughout the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and Asia.
“h2 will be performing six new works for saxophone quartet, which were all composed within the last three years,” said Loeffert. “We worked closely with the composers on the program, and two of the works will be world premieres.”
The composers featured in Sunday’s concert are Forrest Pierce, University of Kansas; Takuma Itoh, University of Hawaii; David Biedenbender; Michigan State University, and Oklahoma State’s Igor Karača, and Dalibor Dukić, both from Serbia.
The quartet itself includes saxophonists Geoffrey Deibel, Wichita State University; Kimberly Goddard Loeffert and Jeffrey Loeffert, OSU; and Jonathan Nichol, University of Oklahoma.
h2 has released five critically-acclaimed recordings: “Generations,” “Times & Spaces,” “Groove Machine,” “Hard Line,” and “Enrapture.” Each album introduces audiences to a different side of the saxophone, with the latter three comfortably bridging the gap between the popular and avant-garde sides of American music.
The quartet has won prizes at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition (first prize, gold medals) and the North American Saxophone Alliance Saxophone Quartet Competition (first prize), among others. It’s been featured on NPR and PBS programs, including the nationally-syndicated Backstage Pass.
For more information, go to h2quartet.com.