Center Chamber: Chamber Music with Saxophone Paul Cohen

• Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968): Eclogues, Op. 206 (Arr. for Flute, Connosax & Guitar):
• 1 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Eclogues, Op. 206 (Arr. for Flute, Connosax & Guitar): I. Andante quieto 02:59
• 2 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Eclogues, Op. 206 (Arr. for Flute, Connosax & Guitar): II. Allegro con spirito 02:28
• 3 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Eclogues, Op. 206 (Arr. for Flute, Connosax & Guitar): III. Lento elegiaco 03:32
• 4 Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Eclogues, Op. 206 (Arr. for Flute, Connosax & Guitar): IV. Allegro vivace con spirito 02:25
• Marc Migó (b. 1993): Berceuse - Lament for Alto Saxophone, Bassoon & Piano:
• 5 Migó: Berceuse - Lament for Alto Saxophone, Bassoon & Piano 08:29
• Morton Gould (1913 - 1996): Pavanne (Arr. P. Cohen for Soprano Saxophone & String Quartet):
• 6 Gould: Pavanne (Arr. P. Cohen for Soprano Saxophone & String Quartet) 03:12
• Eric Ewazen (b. 1954): Quintet for Connosax & String Quartet:
• 7 Ewazen: Quintet for Connosax & String Quartet: I. Allegro ritmico 03:41
• 8 Ewazen: Quintet for Connosax & String Quartet: II. Moderato 06:45
• 9 Ewazen: Quintet for Connosax & String Quartet: III. Allegro molto 02:52
• 10 Ewazen: Quintet for Connosax & String Quartet: IV. Fugue 02:49
• Carlos Franzetti (b. 1948): 4 Movements for Virtuosi:
• 11 Franzetti: 4 Movements for Virtuosi: I. Palisades 08:44
• 12 Franzetti: 4 Movements for Virtuosi: II. Baya 04:19
• 13 Franzetti: 4 Movements for Virtuosi: III. Melancolico 04:21
• 14 Franzetti: 4 Movements for Virtuosi: IV. Finale 02:59
• Total Runtime 59:35

Info for Center Chamber: Chamber Music with Saxophone

On CENTER CHAMBER, wind, string, and keyboard instrumentalists come together to perform a collection of original and intimate compositions that include the saxophone — particularly Paul Cohen’s conn-o-sax, a rare and long forgotten instrument given new life in contemporary works. The conn-o-sax brings a dark, contemplative quality and infuses a unique tonal and musical spirit to these often lively, brooding, and captivating works. The engaging and brilliant intimacy of the playing eloquently reveals the unique emotional and musical bonds that tie together these exceptional artists. Listeners will undoubtedly agree: CENTER CHAMBER offers a listening experience as special and engaging as the instrument it features.

Paul Cohen, soprano & alto saxophone, connosax
Kathleen Nester, flute
Mark Timmerman, bassoon
Oren Fader, guitar
Allison Brewster Franzetti, piano
Manhattan Chamber Orchestra String Quartet

Paul Cohen
is one of America’s most sought-after saxophonists for orchestral and chamber concerts and solo recitals. He has appeared as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, Richmond Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and Philharmonia Virtuosi. His many solo orchestra performances include works by Debussy, Creston, Ibert, Glazunov, Martin, Loeffler, Husa, Dahl, Still, Villa-Lobos, Tomasi, and Cowell. He has also performed with a broad range of orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera (NYC), American Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, New Jersey Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Long Island Philharmonic, Group for Contemporary Music, Greenwich Symphony, Charleston Symphony, New York Solisti, Phiharmonia Virtuosi, and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. He has recorded three albums with the Cleveland Symphonic Winds under the direction of Frederick Fennell and an album of the music of Villa-Lobos with the Quintet of the Americas as well as recordings with the Saxophone Sinfonia, Philharmonia Virtuosi, New York Solisti, Paul Winter Consort, North-South Consonance, and the New Sousa Band. He collaborated with Paquito d’Rivera in a 2017 release of a lost work by Cuban composer Caturla. His most recent recordings include Quiet City, which includes premiere recordings of works by Ornstein, Lunde and Harltey, as well as Breathing Lessons, an album of new works for saxophone quartet. In 2016 his album American Landscapes was released featuring three centuries of American music for saxophone including the newly discovered concerto by the 19th-Century American composer Caryl Florio. In 2018 his album Common Ground features chamber music with strings, winds, and piano, including premiere recordings of works by Aldridge, Shawn, and McPeek. In 2019, New York Rising, featuring recent saxophone quartets written for Cohen was released, plus a first recording of Grainger’s Lisbon. Earlier recordings include Vintage Saxophones Revisited, including the premiere recording of Cowell’s Hymn and Fuguing Tune #18. Cohen is featured on a 2016 release of the saxophone music of Henry Cowell and Percy Grainger, as soloist and chamber player on alto and soprano saxophones.

Cohen has rediscovered and performed lost saxophone literature, including solo works for saxophone and orchestra by Loeffler, Florio and Dahl (for winds), as well as rare chamber works by Grainger, Ornstein, Sousa, Cowell, Siegmeister, and Loeffler. As arranger he has written The Renaissance Book for saxophone quartet (Galaxy Music); Four Piano Blues by Copland for saxophone quartet (Boosey and Hawkes); and, as editor, has prepared the ossia passages for the Concerto for Saxophone by Ross Lee Finney. His company, To the Fore Publishers, (www.totheforepublishers.com) publishes his arrangements and settings for saxophone ensemble as well as original, historical, and contemporary saxophone works from selected composers. Cohen frequently presents lectures illustrating his talks with rare instruments, manuscripts, and archival material from his extensive private collection. The Presser Music Company recently published his arrangement for saxophone choir of Variations on America by Charles Ives and the Schumann setting of Billing’s When Jesus Wept. Boosey and Hawkes just issued Cohen’s saxophone quartet arrangements of music Simple Gifts, and Our Town by Aaron Copland. He also has authored The Altissimo Primer a specialized technique book. Cohen holds an MM and D.M.A. degree from the Manhattan School of Music. His teachers have included Galan Kral, Joe Allard, and Sigurd Rascher. He has published more than one hundred articles on the history and literature of the saxophone worldwide. His seminal column, “Vintage Saxophones Revisited,” was featured in the Saxophone Journal from 1985 - 2002. Cohen is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and Rutgers University.

Allison Brewster Franzetti
A multiple GRAMMY Award nominee and Latin GRAMMY Award winner, pianist Allison Brewster Franzetti is known for her stunning virtuosity and musicality. Performances include the televised Latin Grammy Awards, the Grammy Awards Classical Music Tribute to Earl Wild and Lang Lang, and the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. She has been a guest soloist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Queens Symphony Orchestra, Long Island Philharmonic, English Sinfonia, City of Prague Philharmonic, Denver Symphony, Colonial Symphony, European Women’s Orchestra, and the Montclair Orchestra. She played the world premiere of Carlos Franzetti’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires, the European premiere with the Janáček Philharmonic, and the U.S. premiere with the Queens Symphony Orchestra. Solo recitals include debuts at Merkin Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, and tours throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe, and Argentina.

As accompanist and chamber musician, Franzetti has collaborated with composers and directors worldwide, including Sir James Galway, John Corigliano, Stephen Paulus, Lowell Liebermann, Robert Aldridge, Victoria Bond, David Maslanka, Carlos Franzetti, Paquito D’Rivera, Ruben Blades, Benny Goodman, Julius Baker, Ransom Wilson, Eugenia Zukerman, and Robert White. Franzetti holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, the Juilliard School, and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She joined the faculty of the InterHarmony International Music Festival in 2019.

Todd Nichols
is the artistic director and conductor of the Eastern Wind Symphony and is Director of University Bands at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He serves as a guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and recording producer, and is especially honored to have guest conducted the United States Army Field Band. An advocate for new compositions, Nichols has supported the efforts of composers in over 20 commissions from numerous leading composers.

As artistic director for the Eastern Wind Symphony, Nichols conducted performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center and commissioned six new works. Under his direction, the EWS has recently received multiple GRAMMY Award eligibility nominations and has been invited to perform at major conventions including the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, NAfME All Eastern Convention, and Association for Concert Bands National Convention.

Nichols was published in The Conductor’s Companion – 100 Rehearsal Techniques, Imaginative Ideas, Quotes, and Facts. He was inducted into the American Bandmasters Association and American School Band Directors Association in 2016, received two NBA Citations of Excellence, and the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher Recognition Award.

The Eastern Wind Symphony
founded in the spring of 1996, is a wind ensemble of 65 professional musicians from the New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania areas. The EWS has presented performances at Carnegie Hall, John F. Kennedy Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Patriots Theater at the War Memorial. The EWS has also performed at The Midwest Clinic, Northeast Horn Conference, Association for Concert Bands National Convention, International Trumpet Guild Conference, and multiple NaFME Eastern Division Conferences.

Internationally acclaimed musicians including Stanley Drucker, Phil Smith, Paul Cohen, Joe Alessi, Alan Baer, Greg Giannascoli, and Allen Vizzutti have performed with the ensemble. The EWS is proud to be active in commissioning for wind band from today’s leading composers, including Julie Giroux, Joseph Spaniola, Bruce Yurko, Kevin Bobo, and William Ryden. The EWS has produced commercial CDs on the Klavier, Curnow Music Press, and MASTERS labels and is proud to now be represented on Navona Records.

This album contains no booklet.