Erin Royer CD Launch (New Music for Saxophone)

Website(s) : http://www.erinroyer.com / http://www.benjaminpowellpiano.co.uk

Biography

As a duo, Erin Royer and Ben Powell worked together regularly for the duration of Erin’s Masters at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2013/14. This collaboration began in an informal way during many saxophone classes and competitions held at the RNCM. After noticing how well they worked together, Erin and Ben joined forces to create Erin’s debut CD After The Moment. With much success the duo are very excited to present their CD alongside the performance of two of the newest tracks Melodrama for Soprano Saxophone and Piano, and Through The Windswept Gorge for Tenor Saxophone and piano at the 2015 Strasbourg Saxophone Congress. The duo hope to continue their international collaboration in the many years to come.

More information

This recital presents two works from Erin Royer’s debut album After The Moment, which is being launched for the first time at the 2015 Strasbourg Saxophone Congress.
Australian saxophonist Erin Royer and English pianist Ben Powell came together in July of 2014 to record this debut album. After The Moment predominantly consists of commissioned works that Erin has had written specifically for her over the last four years.
The two works that are being presented will both be world premieres; although they have been professionally recorded Erin has specifically saved the premieres for the Strasbourg Saxophone Congress.
The first work being presented is called Melodrama for Soprano Saxophone and Piano composed by English composer Lucy Armstrong.

“Melodrama for Soprano Saxophone and Piano is a three-movement work written in the summer of 2014 for Australian saxophonist, Erin Royer. After a tense opening, the first movement surges into a manic argument which rages within the saxophone part, the piano probing the dispute along and occasionally interjecting. The second movement is a desolately melancholy reflection, two surges of anger erupting from the sadness. This doom-laden atmosphere is suddenly interrupted by a burst of joyous energy, the third movement. Momentum is established and keeps driving forward, a soaring melody occasionally erupting from the pulsing drive.

Many thanks to Erin, with whom it has been a great pleasure to work.”

The final work to be presented in Erin’s recital is Through The Windswept Gorge for Tenor Saxophone and Piano, which is Erin’s latest commission, written by American composer Matt Shervey.

“This new jazz/classical crossover work for tenor saxophone and piano is inspired by the natural landscape of “El Tajo” (the pit), a 390-foot deep chasm found within the mountainous Andalusia region of southern Spain.  This gorge divides the city of Ronda, perched precariously above on its canyon walls, into two parts joined together only by a 200-year old bridge. The bridge has a troublesome history after it served as a prison during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).  Many of its prisoners were thrown  into the gorge and are said to still haunt the buildings that are nearby.   This piece aims to share the experience of a one night stay along the edge of the gorge. The eerie melodies of the wind begin to slowly howl against the canyon walls and then develop into an exhilarating pulse driven journey “through the windswept gorge.”