Blair School of Music presents a Master Series faculty recital performance by saxophonist Brian Utley, accompanied by Nathan Cheung, piano, Sunday, October 6, 4:00 p.m., in Turner Recital Hall. This is a Pay as You Wish event with tickets required for admission.
Program:
“Brillance” – Ida Gotkovsky
“The Dardanelles” – Jenni Watson & Martin Jacoby
“Picnic on the Marne” – Ned Rorem
“Sonata for Soprano Saxophone and Piano” – Bill Douglas
“Invitación al Danzón” – Pacquito D’Rivera
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About Brian Utley:
Brian Utley serves as principal senior lecturer in saxophone and assistant dean for academic affairs at Blair School of Music. He is a regular recitalist at regional and national conferences of the North American Saxophone Alliance, and has performed at multiple World Saxophone Congresses, U.S. Navy Band International Saxophone Symposia, and new music festivals. As an advocate of new music, he has commissioned and premiered works by noted composers including David Froom, Leonard Mark Lewis, Stephen Lias, Lidiuno Pitombeira, and William Price. Utley is also a regular guest artist and clinician at universities and secondary schools throughout the country, serves frequently as an adjudicator for local, state, and regional competitions, and served as a faculty member of the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts for five years.
Utley holds an M.M. and D.M.A. from Louisiana State University and a B.M. from Murray State University. Prior to his appointment at Vanderbilt in 2011, Utley served as associate professor of saxophone at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Utley is an endorsing artist for Légère Signature Series Reeds.
About Nathan Cheung:
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Cheung is known for his versatility as a soloist, collaborator, composer, and improviser. These roles are fueled by a life-long passion to understand the power of great music and tap into its potential to resonate with people from all walks of life. He maintains a deep interest in music outside of the classical canon and meaningful ways in which different styles of music can inform each other.
He received his doctorate and two master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music, as well as a bachelor of arts from Stanford University. Cheung was appointed to the Blair faculty in 2023 following a two-year period as a visiting assistant professor at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.