Mazama Saxophone Quartet of Southern Oregon University
The Mazama Quartet has performed at both regional and national conferences of the North American Saxophone Alliance, the XVIth and XIIIth World Saxophone Congress, Oregon Music Educators Conference, Oregon Shakespeare Green Show, and toured Mexico in 2001 and Sichuan, China in 2005. They also performed at the China Music Trade Show in Shanghai and Yantai in 2007, and Chengdu, China again in 2011. Numerous composers have written or arranged works for Bender and the Quartet, including Todd Barton, Mark Jacobs, Mark Knipple, Carleton Macy, Hu Xiao-ou, Theodore Dollarhide, I’lanna Cotton and Yi Jiayi.
The Mazama Saxophone Quartet performs music of all styles, specializing in turn of the century American saxophone music. The Quartet plays on Yamaha Saxophones and Vandoren mouthpieces. Rhett Bender is a Yamaha Performing Artist.
A Southern Oregon landmark and National Park, Mount Mazama, is better known as Crater Lake. Mazama is a destroyed strato-volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range. The volcano’s collapsed caldera holds Crater Lake, and the entire mountain is located within Crater Lake National Park. Mazama was destroyed by a volcanic eruption that occurred around 5,677 BC. The eruption reduced Mazama’s approximate 12,000-foot (3,700 m) height by a mile (1600 m). Much of the volcano fell into the volcano’s partially emptied neck and magma chamber. Mount Mazama was given its name in 1896 when a climbing club from Portland, The Mazamas, and named the lost peak Mount Mazama. The name is derived from a Native American word, meaning “mountain goat.” The Mazama Saxophone Quartet of Southern Oregon University evolved from the Siskiyou Saxophone Quartet, an ensemble created in 1997 by Dr. Rhett Bender to nurture talented members of his saxophone studio. The Mazama Saxophone Quartet features Bender, Gabriella Richmond, Vicki Purslow and Steve Davidson. Click here for individual bios
My Funny Valentine
Lafn-Sax!
My Love is Like a Red Rose
Sud-America
Ulla in Africa
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