Internationally Acclaimed Saxophonist to Give Recital

04/30/2013 10:59 PM

Internationally acclaimed saxophonist Eugene Rousseau will give a public master class and recital on April 6 in Dingeldine Music Center at Bradley University.

During the master class at 2 p.m. Rousseau will work with invited area high school students with a clinic following at 3:30.  At 7:30 he will appear as soloist and in ensembles in a recital that will feature the Bradley University Alumni Saxophone Quintet, the Bradley University Saxophone Quartet and Quintet, and duets with Bradley saxophone professor Keith M. Zimmerman. The events are free and open to area teachers, saxophone students, and the general public. 

The evening recital program will include Percy Grainger’s Lisbon; movements of the Mozart Saxophone Quintet K. 406 which both Rousseau and Zimmerman have recorded; the Scherzo from Mendelssohn’s op. 87 quintet; the first movement of Singelee’s Premiere Quatour, the first saxophone quartet ever written in 1857; a duet from Bach’s Cantata 78 transcribed for saxophone duet with piano and baritone saxophone accompaniment; the first movement of Paul Hindemith’s duet for two alto saxophones; two Bernhard Heiden pieces for alto saxophone and piano,Diversion and Fantasia Concertante; and conclude with Rousseau playing both soprano and alto saxophones on a medley of well known pieces from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

Dr. Rousseau grew up in Blue Island, Illinois, where he was inspired to take up the saxophone when he heard a neighbor practicing on the back porch nearby.  Because the saxophone was not taken seriously (nor taught seriously for a long time) in the college world, Dr. Rousseau’s first degrees were in clarinet and oboe from Chicago Musical College and Northwestern University with his doctorate from the University of Iowa. While working on his doctorate at the University of Iowa, he took time to study saxophone with the esteemed Marcel Mule in France.

Rousseau has been a senior lecturer in saxophone at the University of Minnesota since 2000. He held the position of professor of saxophone at Indiana University from 1964-2000 where he holds the title of Distinguished Professor of Music.  The legendary Mule, whose biography Rousseau wrote, called him “a brilliant saxophonist and distinguished artist.” He has performed across North America and on five continents. and has recorded a number of LP records and CDs of saxophone music during his long career.  

He has appeared with a number of orchestras around the world and, since 1972, has made 70 trips to Japan as chief consultant to the Yamaha Corporation for their saxophone line.  In 1969 he co-founded the World Saxophone Congress with Canadian concert saxophonist Paul Brodie and served as president of both it and the North American Saxophone Alliance.  His interest in acoustics and saxophone design led him to design and market a very successful line of saxophone mouthpieces.  His publications include scholarly works, videos on saxophone playing, arrangements of music, and pedagogical works, many of which have also been published in French, German, and Japanese.