Connors Stairs' Fourth Year Recital

Connor's recital featured Improv et Caprice (Bozza), Sequenza (Berio), Fantasia (Smith) and Movement #3 of the Italian Concerto (Bach). Connor concluded the recital with a performance of Aria (Bozza), a nod to his grandmother who, a major influence on him to pursue his interests in music, accompanied him on piano.

Congratulations, Connor!

Click below for additional photos and a student retrospective.

Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival 2018

Congratulations to the members of the 2018 Class on the occasion of your performances at the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival!

Thank you, dear students, for your enthusiastic investment of time and effort during the year-end transition.

May the fruit of your labours be the satisfaction of having performed with integrity and artistry for the enrichment of culture and community.

And, our heartfelt 'thank you' to the organizer, adjudicators and sponsors of the Festival for their support and for facilitating opportunities for aspiring musicians to gain valuable performance experience. Thank you for the opportunity for our saxophonists to gain important constructive criticism to help them improve their musicianship and artistry.

Photos courtesy of Skye.

Musical Arts Scholarship winner: Matt Fichter.

Congratulations to Matthew Fichter, ably assisted by Joy Keeler, on the occasion of winning the University of Victoria School of Music Musical Arts Scholarship!

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Well done Matt and Joy!

Connor Stairs' Fourth Year Recital

Mr. Connor Stairs offers his Fourth Year Recital, which includes works representative of the saxophone solo repertoire, and an outstanding arrangement of the Bach composition that is well suited to the quartet, as a contributory project complementing his solo and collaborative work.

Quartet Red is comprised of Connor (soprano), Skye (alto), Jay (tenor) and Michael (baritone).

Matthew Fichter Third Year Recital

Matt Fichter of the Third Year Class, ably supported by pianist Joy Keeler, teams up with guitarist Fraser Gibson.

Skye Eriksen Fourth Year Recital: congratulations!

This year we have two graduates completing their saxophone studies, one of whom is Skye Eriksen from the BC Interior. (More on the other graduate in a future post.)

Skye is an expressive performer who has a passion for teaching. She was consistently well prepared in lessons and for performance labs (master classes). Because she possesses an ample amount of agility on the saxophone that allows her to manifest her ideas with relative ease, her lessons were mostly about artistry more than mere technique. Skye possesses an ability to listen deeply and to connect with others in a way that few people can muster.

It has been a pleasure working with Skye in quartet and in her lessons. She possesses that rare quality known as common sense. That, and her musicality, honesty, graciousness, forthrightness, sense of humour, ability to think independently and critically (in the best sense of the word), her affability and support for others has earned her the respect and admiration of her peers.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Skye has worked diligently to prepare herself for a career in music education. Her love of teaching has been clearly manifest through her work with middle school students at the annual Music Discoveries weekend sponsored by the UVic Student Music Educators' Association.

Skye's Fourth Year Recital featured works by Gotkovsky, Piazzolla, Bach (Italian Concerto arranged for quartet), Morosco and Maslanka. Skye was ably assisted by Jannie Burdeti on piano.

Congratulations Skye! May you keep with you the knowledge of the joy and inspiration you have brought to the Saxophone Class and the School of Music.

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Addition images: click below.

Performance Juries 2018 April

Thank you, dear students, for your enthusiastic dedication and professionalism which you demonstrated so well this year. Congratulations on your many achievements in solo performance, quartet performance and Saxorchestra! Your reputation for excellence has gained you the respect of your peers and faculty! Well done! Keep up the great work!

And, to our beloved collaborative partners, students of the piano and guitar studios: thank you! Your support is very much appreciated!

The 2018-2019 Course Outline and Syllabus will be ready by mid-May. Typically, I shop it around to a senior saxophone student for inspection and commentary, then after any revisions are made, I distribute it by email and publish it online at this website under the Pages Tab.

Have a great summer! Continue to feed your musical souls over the summer!

—W

P.S. - Congratulations to Tessa on the occasion of her acceptance into the Music Education program!

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