Duo Montagnard

Joseph Murphy, saxophone; Matthew Slotkin, guitar

Program:

Maurice Ravel: Piece en forme de Habenera
Jacques Ibert: Entr-act
Terry Riley: Cantos Desierto
Roberto Sierra: Chronicles of Discovery
David Kechley: Driveline: A Power Walk
Robert Beaser: Mountain Songs
Ralph Towner: Juggler’s Etude
Samuel Adler: Into the Radiant Boundaries of Light

Duo Montagnard was formed in 2002 and has since performed over 70 concerts in 20 states, Canada, Slovenia, and Greece. They perform a wide variety of music including music from all continents (including Takemitsu and Piazzolla), jazz-influenced (Towner, Corea), living American composers (Adler, Beaser, Kechley, Lennon, Riley, Sierra), and standard repertoire transcriptions (Ibert, Ravel, Villa-Lobos).

Performer Bios

The New York Times called Joseph Murphy’s 1996 New York debut performance “a particular treat”. According to the Muncie Star, “[Murphy] completely captivated the audience … with his astonishing qualities of imagination.” He has performed in Europe, Taiwan and Japan (at the 1988 World Saxophone Congress). He is a clinician for the Selmer Corporation and has been recorded on Erol (France), Opus One, and Mark Record labels. Murphy has been involved in commissioning and premiering more than twenty new works including works by Libby Larsen, Michael Colgrass, John Harbison, Bernard Rands, and Gunther Schuller. He teaches at Mansfield University (PA).

Matthew Slotkin is one of the most prominent young guitarists in the United States. Appearing in leading venues throughout North America and Europe, Slotkin has achieved success in both solo and chamber music settings. Recent projects include performances of pieces by such composers as Steve Reich and David Kechley, and transcriptions of works by Georg Philip Telemann, David Kellner, and Johann Sebastian Bach. Slotkin has appeared at colleges and universities throughout the United States as well as at the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Institution. His first CD, Twentieth Century Music for Guitar, was released by Centaur Records in the summer of 2003, and has been featured on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition. Dr. Slotkin teaches guitar at Mansfield University (PA).