May 9, 2012

SOU Performing Arts and SOAR present Guest Artist: Otis Murphy, saxophone with Haruko Murphy, piano


(Ashland, Ore.) – The Southern Oregon University (SOU) Department of Performing Arts is pleased to present Guest Artist: Otis Murphy, saxophone with Haruko Murphy, piano as part of the Southern Oregon Arts and Research (SOAR) symposium at SOU on Wednesday May 16th at 7:30 pm in the SOU Music Recital Hall.

 

Otis Murphy joined the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music at the age of 28, becoming one of the youngest faculty members in its history, and where he is currently Associate Professor of Music.  He is in great demand as an international soloist and clinician, having gained wide recognition on four continents: North America (United States and Canada), Europe (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), Asia (Japan, Singapore and Taiwan), and Australia, appearing with orchestras, bands, and chamber groups, and at special events, such as festivals, symposiums, and World Saxophone Congresses.

 

Mr. Murphy has received numerous awards including prizes in Belgium’s Adolphe Sax International Saxophone Competition, the Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition in France, and the Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition in the United States.  His students also have won many awards and earned positions as teachers, soloists, chamber musicians, and members of top U.S. military bands.  Mr. Murphy has released some fifteen recordings including four solo compact discs, and his latest solo release, Summertime, has received critical acclaim.  In addition, he has appeared in publications that include Saxophone Journal in the United States, Vandoren Magazine in France, Japan’s Band JournalPipers and The Sax magazines, Clarinet and Saxophone Society Journal in the United Kingdom, and Dolomiten Magazin in Italy.

 

Mr. Murphy has enjoyed a close relationship with Japan, in particular, having been invited annually since 2001 to present master classes and concerts and having been a member of the artist/faculty of the Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy since 2005.  Mr. Murphy was awarded the 2008 S & R Foundation’s Washington Award and its special Ambassador Award (which the S & R Foundation created especially for Mr. Murphy) in recognition of his contributions to Japanese and American understanding.  He has appeared in Isaac Stern Concert Hall and Tokyo’s Opera City Hall, and his 2009 Japan tour included performances in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai and Toyama, and a DVD was produced from their sold-out concert in Tokyo’s Casals Hall.  In 2011, Mr. Murphy was a guest professor at the Musashino Academy of Music in Tokyo and performed as a guest soloist with the Musashino Academy Wind Ensemble at the Japan Band Clinic.

 

Mr. Murphy holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, graduating with the Performer’s Certificate, the highest honor given to a performer at this institution; and the Bachelor of Music Education degree, graduating Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Georgia.  In addition, he pursued advanced studies in France under a Fulbright Fellowship for foreign study at the Conservatoire National Régional de Musique in Cergy-Pontoise, earning the Prix de Perfectionnement by a unanimous decision of the jury.  His saxophone teachers include Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Eugene Rousseau, and Kenneth Fischer.  Otis Murphy is a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Vandoren Performing Artist, and he is the soprano saxophonist in Solaire Quartet.  Otis resides in Bloomington, Indiana with his wife, Haruko, and their five children.

 

Tickets for this performance are only $10 for general admission and free for students.  Tickets and season passes may be purchased by calling 541-552-6101, in person in the Music Office Monday through Friday, or at the Music Box Office one hour prior to the performance.  For more information, please visit Southern Oregon University’s Department website at www.sou.edu/music.

 

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May 1, 2012

SOU Performing Arts Department of Music presents Siskiyou Saxophone Orchestra Debuts New Work by Ashland Arranger

Siskiyou Saxophone Orchestra Debuts New Work by Ashland Arranger

 

(Ashland, Ore.) – The Siskiyou Saxophone Orchestra and Cascade Clarinet Consort, under the direction ofProfessor Rhett Bender, D.M.A., will present Preludes and Processions, Overtures and Entrances, on Monday, May 14th at 7:30 PM at the SOU Music Recital Hall. Special guests will be the Mazama Saxophone Quartet, who is kicking off their Great Britain tour with a tribute to the bagpipe. Audience members are invited to a cake reception following the concert.

 

The performance includes the debut of a new arrangement of the Poet and Peasant Overture by SOU Associate Professor Vicki Purslow, Ed.D.. “This debut culminates the end of a 9-month project that would have been very challenging without the support of members of the New Works for Saxophone Consortium. Poet and Peasant has been out of print for saxophone ensembles, and I am excited to bring the work back into the repertoire,” said Purslow.

 

The evening’s program also features the music of Handel, who churned out operas and oratorios in as little as two weeks, just like sitcoms; and Rimsky-Korsavkov, who said of operatic overtures: “I will have nothing more to do with this music, or I might unhappily develop a liking for it.”

 

The Siskiyou Saxophone Orchestra (SSO) and Cascade Clarinet Consort (CCC) are collaborative learning environments for students, faculty, and staff at Southern Oregon University. Both ensembles are under the direction of Rhett Bender.

 

The Mazama Saxophone Quartet, featuring Rhett Bender, Vicki Purslow, Steve Davidson, and Jamie Krull will be touring the United Kingdom this summer, with a program called Pubs, Churches, and Donkeys.  The quartet will be performing at the World Saxophone Congress in St. Andrews, Scotland, at Dame Judi Dench’s Winchester Arts Festival in England, and at several churches and pubs throughout Great Britain.  Their tour includes a benefit performance for the Island Farm Donkey Sanctuary, home for abused and ill-treated donkeys and other animals.  Locally, Mazama will appear will also appear at the OSF Greenshow and Britt Festival.   

 

Tickets for this performance are only $5 for general admission and free for students.  Tickets and season passes may be purchased by calling 541-552-6101 or at the Music Box Office prior to the performance.  For more information, please visit Southern Oregon University’s Department website at www.sou.edu/music.

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