The use of cameras or recording equipment during the 

performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Please note that late entry or reentry ofthe 

West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

For the convenience of concertgoers, 

the Garden Cafe remains open for light refreshments

until 6:00 pm on Sundays.

Music Department

National Gallery of Art

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

www.nga.gov

Concerts are made possible in part through the generosity of donors

to the National Gallery ofArt through The Circle. Reserved seating is

available in recognition oftheir support. Please contact the development 

office at (202) 842-6450 or circle@nga.gov for more information.

cover: Roy Lichtenstein (artist), Leo Castelli Gallery (publisher), Chiron Press, (printer),

Brushstroke, 1965, National Gallery ofArt, Washington,

Gift of Roy and Dorothy Lichtenstein

The Seventy-first Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,911th Concert

Washington Saxophone Quartet

Reginald Jackson, soprano

James Steele, alto

Rich Kleinfeldt, tenor

Rick Parrell, baritone

Presented in honor of

Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective

November 18, 2012

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfree
Program

Milan Kaderavek (b. 1924)

Introduction and Allegro (1963)

Pat Metheny (b. 1954)

In Her Family (1987)

Arranged for saxophone quartet by Rick Parrell

Michael Torke (b. 1961)

July (1995)

Warren Benson (1924-2005)

Wind Rose (1966)

Russell S. Howland (1908-1995)

Quartet no. 1 (1962)

Slow-Moderately Fast

Slow and Quiet

Lively

INTERMISSION

Lisa Bielawa

Double Duet (2010)

Paquito D’Rivera (b. 1948)

“Monk-Tuno” (1996)

From New York Suite

Elliot Del Borgo (b. 1938)

Quartetfor Saxophones (1987)

Quickly 

Gently

With vigor

This concert is made possible in part by support from

Randy Hostetler Living Room Music Fund.
The Musicians

WASHINGTON SAXOPHONE QUARTET

Founded in 1976, the Washington Saxophone Quartet enjoys a reputation

as the most widely heard saxophone quartet in the United States, thanks to

regular use ofits recordings on the daily broadcasts ofNational Public Radio’s

All Things Considered. Masters ofthe art ofmodifying the tone oftheir instruments, the four players can evoke the sound of a string quartet, the rich

harmonies of an organ prelude, or the excitement of a big band sax section.

The ensemble taps into a rich repertoire—from early music to newly commissioned works—and draws on a wealth of experience to reach listeners of

every age and background.

The quartet has performed recitals, informal concerts, and master classes 

throughout the United States, in the Caribbean, and in China as well as on

radio and television networks worldwide. In 1998 the ensemble released To

China and Bach, featuring music from its 1995 and 1997 China tours. Recording on the Americus label, the group has also produced Daydream; Different

Times, Different Places; and a holiday CD, ‘Tis The Season. The Washington

Saxophone Quartet maintains a website at www.wsaxq.com.

REGINALD JACKSON

A graduate ofthe University of North Texas in Denton, Reginald Jackson

has appeared as recitalist and soloist with orchestras, wind ensembles, and

military bands throughout the United States and Europe, including tours as

a member ofthe Ambassadors ofJazz ofthe United States Army Field Band.

Winner offirst prizes in both solo and chamber music competitions at the

Royal Conservatory in Brussels, he has taught at the University of Maryland

and Howard University and performed more than 200 concerts with the

National Symphony and Kennedy Center Opera House orchestras.

4

JAMES STEELE

Father ofseven children, most ofwhom he taught to play a musical instrument, James Steele holds a master ofmusic degree from the Catholic 

University ofAmerica and a master of business administration degree from

George Mason University. Membership in the United States Army Band

brought him to Washington, DC, and eventually to his association with the

quartet. Featured as a soloist and lecturer at the 2003 World Saxophone

Congress, Steele recently produced the album Saxophone in the Sanctuary,

fulfilling a life-long dream to record with composer Kurt Kaiser, who served

as accompanist as well as composer for the album.

RICH KLEINFELDT

A familiar name and voice to listeners ofClassical weta-fm, Rich Kleinfeldt

is a professional musician, teacher, and lecturer as well as a broadcaster. Currently the host oftwo nationally syndicated radio programs— Indianapolison-the-Air and Center Stagefrom WolfTrap—he is an on-air announcer for 

weta-fm in Washington. His previous broadcasting experience includes the

Voice ofAmerica and the Maestro Classical Music Channel ofthe WorldSpace

Satellite Network. A graduate of Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and

the Catholic University ofAmerica, Kleinfeldt performed until 1983 with the

United States Army Band as saxophone soloist and master of ceremonies.

RICK FARRELL

A saxophone soloist with the United States Army Band and an adjunct professor ofmusic at George Mason University, Rick Parrell earned his bachelor

ofmusic degree from George Mason University and his master ofmusic degree 

from the University of North Texas. In addition to his performances with the

Army Band and other area ensembles, Parrell has appeared with such notable

jazz artists as Louie Bellson, Gary Foster, and Lee Konitz.

5
Program Notes

One ofthe lesser-known facts about Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) is that

he was a lifelong jazz fan with a special affinity for the saxophone, which he

took up as a hobby late in life. During his high school years he played clarinet,

piano, and jazz flute, and spent some of his free time at New York City jazz 

clubs including Staples on 57th Street and the Apollo Theater in Harlem. In

the 1990s, Lichtenstein and his wife Dorothy befriended jazz saxophonist

Hayes Greenfield and produced Greenfield's CD Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz. This evening’s concert explores the full range of contemporary music for multiple

saxophones, including music influenced by jazz and pop songs.

The National Gallery exhibition Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective is the

first major exhibition ofthe artist’s work since his death in 1997. More than

100 of Lichtenstein’s greatest paintings from all periods of his career are

presented along with a selection ofrelated drawings and sculptures. This

retrospective presents his expansive legacy, including the classic early pop 

paintings based on advertisements and comic-book treatments ofwar and

romance, his versions of paintings by the modern masters, and series

including Brushstrokes, Mirrors, Artist’s Studios, Nudes, and Landscapes

in the Chinese Style. Organized by the Art Institute ofChicago and Tate

Modern, London, in association with the National Gallery ofArt, the exhibition is sponsored by Bank ofAmerica, the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz

Foundation, and the Altria Group, with support from the Exhibition Circle 

ofthe National Gallery ofArt. Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective remains on

view in the East Building until January 13, 2013.

Written while the composer was serving in the military as a musician

and performing in jazz and other ensembles on the side, Milan Kaderavek’s

Introduction and Allegro reflects his interest in various kinds ofmusic, including

jazz. His later doctoral study at the University of Illinois broadened his interests to include the music ofLeos Janacek (1854-1928). A pupil ofthe renowned

American organist and composer Leo Sowerby (1895-1968), Kaderavek taught

at Drake University in Iowa until his retirement in 1997. His many works,

including this original composition for saxophone quartet, are archived at

the Sibley Library at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

6

A native of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, a southeast suburb of Kansas City,

composer Pat Metheny attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables,

Florida. Before completing his first semester, he was hired by the university

as a teacher. In 1975 Metheny came onto the jazz scene when he joined vibraphonist Gary Burton’s band and recorded Bright Size Life with bassist Jaco

Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses. In Her Family comes from Metheny’s

1987 album Still Life (Talking). Metheny, who has maintained a rigorous touring schedule for nearly thirty-five years, has written more than 400 pieces

and continues to push musical limits in both his composition and performance.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, composer and pianist Michael Torke

attended the Eastman School of Music, where he studied composition with

Christopher Rouse and Joseph Schwantner, and the Yale School of Music, 

where he studied with Jacob Druckman. A prolific composer in various

genres, Torke has written music for the 1996 Olympics; Color Music (1985 —

1989), a series of orchestral pieces, each ofwhich explores a single, specific 

color; and Four Seasons, an oratorio commissioned by the Walt Disney Company

to celebrate the millennium and premiered by Kurt Masur and the New York

Philharmonic Orchestra. His opera Pop-pea was commissioned by Le Theatre

du Chatelet in Paris and debuted in May 2012.

About July, which he wrote for the London-based Apollo Saxophone

Quartet, Michael Torke writes:

From an overheard pop song, I scratch my head and think: “I

like that—how could I use it?” To me, it's not worth trying to

write another ofthe ten million songs out there. But I’ve found 

that ifI take a small part ofthe drum track and assign it to the

non-percussion instruments I’m writing for, then interesting

things happen. You lose the original context (in this case a

baritone sax does not sound like a kick drum), but you gain

immediacy and freshness in the instrumental writing. There

will also be cohesion of compositional intent ifyou have a

strategy for those pitch assignments. When writing this piece,

keeping in mind the incredible agility ofthe saxophone, I wrote

a series ofrapid notes that form a foundation, or a kind of

“directory,” from which I pulled out pitches to assign to those

7
original rhythms (as notes fly by in real time)... Like December

for string orchestra, the piece that preceded July, I’m trying to

incorporate contrasting themes and moods together in a single

movement work... the energy and heat we find in the month of

July, as well as cooling breezes ofrepose that come, perhaps, in

the evening.

Warren Benson’s Wind Rose was dedicated to Fred Hemke and the

Northwestern University Saxophone Quartet on the occasion oftheir tour of

Asia in spring 1966. Hemke recently retired after fifty years at Northwestern,

a distinguished career that has helped to solidify the place ofthe saxophone

as a serious instrument in American music. A one-movement work marked

“legato and free,” Wind Rose features frequent and subtle tempo changes within

the context ofvaried timbre and tone qualities. In his performance instructions, Benson writes: “Vibrato is an integral element in this work—care

should be exercised to see that it is varied (fast, slow, wide, narrow, absent).”

A distinguished composer, conductor, lecturer, and writer, Benson produced

more than 150 compositions, among them commissions from the Kronos

Quartet, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Rochester Philharmonic

Orchestra. His archive is also located at the Eastman School of Music.

Born in Novinger, Missouri, Russell S. Howland moved to New York

City after high school to perform and eventually moved back to the Midwest

to study at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He taught in

public schools, at the University of Michigan, and at California State University in Fresno, where he taught woodwinds, harp, and music theory until

his retirement in 1975. Active as an arranger and composer for wind band,

clarinet choir, and saxophone quartet throughout his career, he was honored

with induction into the hall offame ofthe California Music Educators

Association. Quartet No. 1 is Howland’s most successful piece for saxophone

quartet. Each movement creates a picture in sound, with the sounds sometimes layered so that they pass from one saxophone to the next, dovetailing

in a way that creates the illusion oflistening to one large instrument.

Born in San Francisco into a musical family, Lisa Bielawa played the

violin and piano, sang, and wrote music from early childhood. After receiving her bachelor of arts degree in literature from Yale University in 1990,

she became active in the New York music scene, touring with the Philip

Glass Ensemble in 1992, and five years later, cofounding the mata Festival,

which celebrates the work ofyoung composers. She is a 2009 Rome Prize

winner in musical composition. Her chamber works have been heard recently 

in New York at the City Winery, Merkin Concert Hall, Trinity Church, and Weill

Recital Hall, and at concert venues in Italy, Paris, and the United Kingdom.

Explaining how Double Duet grew out of personal relationships, Lisa

Bielawa writes:

This piece—written to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of a

wonderful couple, Larry and Mary Hewes; written in memory 

oftheir dear family friend Randy Hostetler, a young composer 

whose too-short life and vital work continue to challenge me to

be open-hearted in my life and inventive in my work; written for

the Washington Saxophone Quartet, who gave the premiere of

Randy’s 25 Years twenty-five years ago, on a similar occasion—

cannot escape being relational. And so, because it is full of

these multiple dialogues, spanning time in multiple directions,

this piece needed to be a double duet... a duet oftwo duets.

Some dialogues are private, some last fifty years, some last one

evening, and all are related to kinship.

A Havana-born child prodigy who began studying music with his father

at age five, Paquito D’Rivera at seven became the youngest musician ever to

endorse a musical instrument, when he signed on with the Selmer Company

to promote its saxophones and clarinets. In early 1981, while on tour in Spain, 

he sought asylum at the United States Embassy and left Cuba in search of a

better life. Upon arriving in the United States, D’Rivera and his family received 

help from composer David Amram, jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie (1917 —

1993), and Blue-note Label president Bruce Lundvall, who gave him his first

solo recording date. D’Rivera rewarded their confidence by becoming a

world-renowned artist, earning respect in all musical genres.

Commissioned by the Montreal-based Gerald Danovitch Saxophone

Quartet, D’Rivera’s New York Suite has four movements, one ofwhich,

“Monk-Tuno,” is included in tonight’s program. It is replete with chromatic

lines and dissonant harmonies, interspersed with unison lines. The rhyth9
mic support for the melody—played by the soprano saxophone—comes

mostly from the alto and tenor saxophones, with punctuation from the

baritone. Because there is no rhythm section to fill in the silences between

the notes, this tribute piece is reminiscent ofthe music ofits dedicatee,

pianist Thelonius Monk (1917-1982), who was as well known for the notes

he left out as for the ones he played.

Born in Port Chester, New York, Elliot Del Borgo studied theory and

composition with Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987) and trumpet with Gilbert

Johnson at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. From 1966 to 1995,

Del Borgo was professor ofmusic at the Crane School of Music at the State 

University of New York in Potsdam. He has nearly 500 published compositions, including music written for the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New

York. His Quartetfor Saxophones features many ofthe textures and idioms

in his music for concert band, for which he is best known. The outer movements take advantage ofthe brass-like quality ofthe saxophones to create

a driving and energetic sound. The middle movement features a flute-like 

recitative for the soprano saxophone, which frames a more lush, lyrical 

middle section.

Program notes by Michael Jacko, music program specialist,

National Gallery ofArt

10

Concerts at the National Gallery ofArt in November and December 2012

National Gallery ofArt Orchestra

Philippe Entremont, conductor and pianist

Music by Brahms, Danielpour,

and Mozart

November 25, 2012

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Reformation Lutheran Church Choir, Washington, DC

Paul Leavitt, director

Music by Bales, Leavitt,

and other composers

December 2, 2012

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Great Noise Ensemble

Armando Bayolo, director

Music by Bayolo, Gorecki, 

and Part

December 9, 2012

Sunday, 6:30 pm

East Building Atrium