Saxophone

A native of greater Washington, DC, saxophonist GARY LOUIE has earned an admired niche in American concert life for his dedication to championing the artistic possibilities and expanding the repertoire of his instrument. Today, critics regularly compare him to Richard Stoltzman and Heinz Holliger for popularizing the artistic expressiveness of the saxophone as they did the clarinet and oboe, respectively.

Gary Louie's current season is highlighted by a performance of Robert Sirota'sConcerto for Saxophone & Orchestra with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Vladimir Lande. He also performs in Vienna and throughout Italy and Spain with Yuri Temirkanov and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In recital, he returns to New York City's famed St. Bartholomew's Church. Recent seasons have heard Gary Louie with Juanjo Mena, David Lockington and Daniel Hege and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in performances of Milhaud�s La cr�ation du monde, Debussy's Rhapsody for Saxophone and Orchestra and Glazunov's Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra, respectively; with the Ohio Chamber Orchestra in Cleveland; and with the Washington Chamber Symphony and National Chamber Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, playing Ibert's Concertino da camera. He has also appeared with the orchestras of Allentown, Annapolis, Harrisburg, Long Island, Olympia, Pensacola, Richmond, Roanoke and Southeast Texas as well as the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, with whom he has recorded.

In recital he has been presented by prestigious institutions from coast to coast: New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Alice Tully Hall and The Frick Collection; California's La Jolla Chamber Music Society; Boston's Jordan Hall, The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, The Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Cleveland Museum of Art; The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. International performances have been given in Paris at L'Opera Comique, in Rome at the Villa Medici, in Hong Kong, throughout Spain and with Germany�s Philharmonisches Orchester Augsburg, under the baton of Peter Leonard. He has also been heard on Spanish National Radio, Radio France and, throughout the United States, on National Public Radio and Public Television.

In 1994, Gary Louie released his first solo CD on the Newport Classic label. TitledPastorale, it features romantic works for saxophone and piano, with Kirsten Taylor. With Richard Auldon Clark and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra he has recorded Alec Wilder's Suite for Tenor Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra and Ibert's Concertino da Camera (on Newport Classic) and Henry Cowell's Air and Scherzo (on KOCH International). An avid supporter and interpreter of contemporary music, Gary Louie is actively involved in the commissioning and performing of new scores for the saxophone. In 1993, saxophonist John Sampen and he were awarded a grant from the Meet-the-Composer/Reader's Digest Commissioning Fund which resulted in William Albright's Rustles of Spring, 1994, which Mr. Louie premiered with Houston's Rice University Contemporary Music Ensemble. In 1996, he jointly premiered John Harbison's new work for saxophone and piano, San Antonio. He is currently involved in a commission for saxophone and string quartet by John Anthony Lennon.

Gary Louie was the recipient of a 1993 Solo Recitalist Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1992, he was selected by the United States Information Service for its "Arts America" program. In 1986, he won the coveted Pro Musicis International Sponsorship Award. Gary Louie's past teachers include George Etheridge and Don Sinta.