Program
Alojzy Thomys
Miniature—Andante con passion
Cesar Franck
Sonata
Edward Abrahamyan
I Heard a Song in Silent Night
Edward Baghdassarian
Nocturne
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Can It Be Day?
Richard Rodney Bennett
Ballad in memory of Shirley Horn
Sigmund Romberg
Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
Astor Piazzolla
Milonga del Angel
Geoff Eales
Farewell Patagonia (2010)
Sherwood Shaffer
Barcarolle
Walter S. Hartley
Poem and Scherzino
Mike Tomaro
Excursion
Biographies
James Houlik is the leading performer on his instrument in the world. His pioneering efforts on behalf of the tenor saxophone have resulted in the composition of more than eighty-five new concert works for the instrument, and important performances around the world. From the East Room of the White House, to solo appearances with orchestras in London, Prague, Istanbul, Berlin, Chicago, Phoenix, and New York, to recitals in the music capitals of the world, James Houlik has redefined the role of the tenor saxophone.
He has worked closely with many composers to foster the development of a repertoire for his previously neglected instrument. Among the more than 85 pieces composed for are concerti by Robert Ward, Morton Gould, David Ott, Sherwood Shaffer, Eric Ewazen, Walter S. Hartley, Russell Peck, Paul Harvey, Vache Sharafran, as well as dozens with band, piano, and in chamber settings.
Through the years, James Houlik has appeared in such major venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Town Hall in Toronto, The Smithsonian Institution, and London’s Barbican. He regularly visits university campuses throughout the United States as a performer and as a teacher of clinics and master classes.
His concerto performances have included those with the American Symphony Orchestra, the Grant Park Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony, the West Virginia Symphony, the San Remo Orchestra (Italy), the Istanbul Philharmonic, the North Carolina Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Milan, the New Art Philharmonic of Pretoria, South Africa, the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the United States Navy Band, to mention a few.
With a combination of landmark performances and tireless efforts to build a repertoire for his instrument, Houlik has taken the tenor saxophone to unimagined heights. Moreover, audiences and critics alike have celebrated the remarkable artistic achievements which have placed James Houlik among the leading saxophonists of our time: “Houlik is a genuinely brilliant player” -New York Magazine.
James Houlik is Professor of Saxophone at the Duquesne University Mary Pappert School of Music. He is a Yamaha artist, performing on the Yamaha Custom EX tenor saxophone, a James Houlik mouthpiece, and Alexander Superial D.C. reeds.
Armenian pianist Vahan Sargsyan holds graduate and post graduate degrees from Yerevan Komitas State Conservatoire where he studied with Elza Tandilyan and his father, renowned pianist Villi Sargsyan. He was awarded Second Prize in the International Competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and he was also winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Auditions as a soloist and in two chamber music categories. Mr. Sargsyan has performed as soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and is regularly seen at the orchestra's keyboards. He is staff pianist and chamber music coach at Carnegie Mellon University.