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News Release

Perconti, Alloy Saxophone Quartet release new CD

Saxophonist and Lewis-Clark State College Professor of Music Bill Perconti and the Alloy Saxophone Quartet have released a new CD titled Dragon. Perconti says Dragon, released by Albany Records on Oct. 1, "is an exploration of modern classical music for solo saxophone and saxophone quartet."
The world premier recordings are performed by soloist Perconti and the quartet, assisted by Gary Gemberling on percussion. Perconti is the soprano saxophonist of the quartet that includes Sean Fredenburg of Portland State University, Duke Sullivan of Seattle, and Erik Steighner of Tacoma/Pacific Lutheran University. Composers included on the CD are Allan Blank, Frederic Rzewski, Hilary Tann, Joan Tower, and Joseph Waters. The title piece "Dragon" is a saxophone solo with electronics that has been described by composer Joseph Waters as "Charlie Parker meets George Gershwin, Super Mario Bros. II, and Lady Gaga."
The quartet works are titled "Spots," composed by Frederick Rzewski for unspecified instrumentation and arranged for saxophone quartet by Perconti. Influenced by commercial advertising "spots," Rzewski's "Spots" function like TV commercials, and are therefore interspersed among other pieces on the CD. "Spot 9" is a duet for solo instrument (performed by Perconti) and "Bouncing Ball" (on this CD a women's basketball, played by Gemberling).
Albany Records is a leading independent record company of American modern music. Also available online and on download sites that offer classical music, Dragon will be advertised and distributed worldwide. Funded by Lewis-Clark State College and friends of the LCSC Music Program, Dragon was recorded at LCSC and Washington State University.
Perconti is an 11-time recording artist with Albany, Arizona University Recordings, Centaur, Crystal, and Vienna Modern Masters. As a soloist and director/player of numerous ensembles, he has recorded over 25 world premier recordings. Perconti's projects were supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Washington Artist Trust, the Bossak-Heilbron Foundation, LCSC, the Idaho Commission for the Arts (with pianist Kay Zavislak), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (with composer Elena Ruehr).
For more information contact Bill Perconti at 208.792.2334 or [email protected].