Listen to 2023 FWC Small Ensemble Alternate Winners Aero Saxophone Quartet perform on Classical KING’s Northwest Focus Live!
LISTEN HERE online
Ladies Musical Club and Classical KING
present
aero saxophone quartet
2023 Frances walton competition alternate winners
small ensemble division
Northwest Focus Live
Friday, December 1, 2023 at 7 PM
Bop (2004) by Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)
An Elegy: A Cry from the Grave (2015) by Carlos Simon (b. 1986)
Saxophone Quartet, Op. 109 (1932) by Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936)
III. Finale
Danzón No. 5 “Portales de Madrugada” (1997) by Arturo Márquez (b. 1950)
Wapango (1993) by Paquito D’Rivera (b. 1948)
Cape Cod Chips (2007) by Hiromi Uehara (b. 1979) arr. Corey Dundee
The Iberia Suite (2004) by Ed Calle (b. 1959)
I. Midnight Rumba
II. Siesta
III. Pamplona
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Praised by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Grammy-winning composer Augusta Read Thomas for their “nuanced, colorful, and artfully sculpted” interpretations, Aero Quartet has appeared on chamber music series including Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Chesapeake Music, Valparaiso Concert Association, and The Dame Myra Hess Concerts broadcast on WFMT Chicago. Aero is consistently recognized for their versatile and varied performances, with programming featuring conventional and contemporary works for saxophone, as well as arrangements spanning centuries of musical tradition.
As educators, Aero has presented masterclasses at institutions including the University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, University of Missouri–Kansas City, and the University of Kansas. Aero Quartet heavily values educational outreach, having performed for and worked with students at public schools across the Midwest and East Coast.
Formed in 2020 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Aero Quartet received the Gold Medal at the 2021 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, along with First Prize awards at the Music Teachers National Association Chamber Music Competition and Briggs Chamber Music Competition, among others. Aero’s artistic mission is to provide audiences with listening experiences that are engaging, entertaining, and thought-provoking, whilst actively contributing to the evolving chamber music medium by commissioning new repertoire and exploring eclectic arrangements. You can hear Aero on their debut album, released on the Orchid Classics label in September 2023, which is available on all streaming platforms.
Supported By:
. 
. 
. 
Gracie Potter is in her Senior year at the Colburn School, where she studies with David Rejano. She has performed with the LA Phil, The Phoenix Symphony, and the London Symphony Orchestra. She was a winner in the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Competition and won the ITA Robert Marsteller Competition. She was also a finalist in the ITA Trombone Quartet Competition and a quarter finalist for the Michel Becquet International Trombone Competition. In 2022, Gracie won the Keston MAX Competition at Music Academy, placed first in the International Women’s Brass Conference Trombone Category, placed second in the Final, and won the Phoenix Brass Collective competition. She is currently a Shires Rising Artist where she has received masterclasses from world renowned musicians. In 2021, she placed 3rd overall in Ian Bousfields International Trombone Competition and became a New World sub and has been subbing with them occasionally. In 2020, she received a New Horizons Fellowship from Aspen Music Festival and School and was a recipient for the Arizona MusicFest Scholarship. This summer she attended the Tanglewood Music Center and the summer prior she attended Music Academy, where she studied with Mark Lawrence, Nitzan Haroz and Weston Sprott. During the summer of 2021 she attended the Aspen Music Festival, where she received lessons and classes with James Miller, Peter Sullivan, Per Brevig, and Timothy Higgins. She took part in chamber ensembles, trombone choir, recitals, and orchestra concerts. She also won the Concerto Competition and performed the Frank Martin Concerto for Seven Winds, Timpani, and Strings with the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra. In 2020, she attended The MasterWorks Festival, and in 2019, she was selected to be a member of the National Youth Orchestra and performed in multiple countries on the NYO European Tour.
won numerous regional competitions including the coveted Seattle Young Artist Music Festival Medal. Yvette has distinguished herself nationally as a finalist in the MTNA competition and as SFCM’s 2021/22 Concerto Competition winner. Internationally, Yvette placed 2nd at the 2020 Grumiaux International Violin Competition in Brussels and was a semi-finalist in the 2019 Louis Spohr International Violin Competition in Weimar. Recently Yvette performed in New York City at the prestigious Charlotte White’s “Salon de Virtuosi” Holiday Concert and has been sought after as a soloist in California and Tennessee. Yvette is an NPR “From The Top” Fellow and solo performer and has performed with numerous orchestras including the Seattle Symphony. She studied with Simon James, and she currently studies with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. 