PRISM Quartet and Andrew Rathbun at Western Michigan University, Free Recital

Hailed by The Los Angeles Times for “remarkable examples of virtuosity,” the PRISM Quartet is presented by Western Michigan University in a concert featuring music by several award-winning Michigan composers: Christopher Biggs (Western Michigan University), Kristin Kuster (University of Michigan), and Alexis Bacon (Michigan State University). The program includes the world premiere of Biggs’ “Surfaces and Essences” and “Forbidden Drive,” a new work by Pew Fellow and PRISM’s resident composer, Matthew Levy. “Forbidden Drive” features guest saxophonist Andrew Rathbun (Western Michigan University). PRISM will also present an adaptation of “Fearful Symmetries” by Pulitzer Prize-winner John Adams from the Quartet’s just released “Paradigm Lost” album (XAS Records). Plus, one of PRISM’s favorites, “Night Music,” by rising-star Emma O’Halloran.

CONCERT PROGRAM
Surfaces and Essences (world premiere) by Christopher Biggs
Fearful Symmetries (excerpt) by John Adams, Arr. Timothy McAllister
Red Pine by Kristin Kuster
Forbidden Drive by Matthew Levy
Capriccio by Alexis Bacon
Night Music by Emma O’Halloran

Andrew Rathbun

Toronto-born, New York-based saxophonist and composer Andrew Rathbun is at the forefront of a new generation of jazz innovators. His improvisations are at once melodic, gritty and technically stirring. His compositions are lyrical, harmonically complex and formally ambitious. There is a poetic and multi-dimensional quality to Rathbun’s music, which fellow saxophonist Joe Lovano has praised for its “warmth and beauty.”

In addition to his work as a leader, Rathbun has recorded or performed with Luciana Souza, Eddie Gomez, John Abercrombie, Reggie Workman, Ingrid Jensen, Jay Anderson, Kenny Wheeler, Jerry Bergonzi and many more. He has studied with Pat LaBarbera, Jerry Bergonzi, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Jim McNeeley, Lewis Spratlan and George Garzone. His latest release is Idea of North, a sextet exploration which finds the radio work of Glenn Gould as its inspiration. As a sideman, Rathbun has appeared on over 25 recordings.

Rathbun continues to push past musical boundaries, both on record and in live gigs throughout New York City. He earned his master’s with academic honors and distinction in performance from Boston’s New England Conservatory. His other awards and distinctions include grants from the Ontario Council for the Arts, the Canada Council and the American Music Center. He has served as a fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, an artist at the Banff Center for the Arts, a fellow at the MacDowell Colony and a woodwind studio instructor on faculty at the University of Maine. He currently teaches at Kingsborough College in Brooklyn, and the Manhattan School of Music, where he received his doctorate in jazz arts.