as published in PAN PIPES, Volume 95, Number 2

Walter S. Hartley**

"In 2001 and 2002 I was honored by several occasions of tribute for my many compositions for the classical saxophone family over the past 50 years.At the School of Music, University of Louisville (KY), on November 9, 2001, ten of my compositions featuring saxophones were played by students and faculty members, hosted by John Moore and Michael Tracy.  At San Diego State University, November 14-15, 2001, 'A Saxophone Tribute to Walter S. Hartley' included 18 of my compositions and arrangements featuring saxophones, from sopranino to contrabasso for soloists and ensembles.  My host, Jay Easton, reported this event for these magazines:Sinfonia, Saxophone Journal,and North American Saxophone Association Symposium Update.On February 21, 2002, a '75th Birthday Tribute to Walter S. Hartley' was held at the Fredonia (NY) Opera House, hosted by Wildy Zumwalt and including 12 of my saxophone compositions and arrangements played by my saxophonist friends from all over the United States.  ASCAP has granted me my 41st annual award for serious music."

Premieres

The first performance of SAI Friend of the Arts Walter S. Hartley's Lyric Suite (1993), for tenor saxophone, violin, and piano, took place at the 29th Pan Music Festival, in Seoul, Korea, with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, November 1, 2001.  Led by Donald Carducci, the Orchard Park (NY) High School Concert Band introduced All Hail the Power (2001), October 20, 2001. Elegy 2001, for English horn and piano, premiered March 29, 2002, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo, with Florence Myers and Barbara Wagner.  Works presented at the University of Louisville (KY) Cardinal Saxophone Workshop in 2002 were Four Pieces for Three Players (2001-02), for tenor saxophone, violin, and piano, with John S. Moore, Scott F. Moore, and Krista Wallace-Boaz, July 18; and Sinfonia No. 15 (2002), for saxophones, with the Saxophone Orchestra, John S. Moore and Mark Alan Taggart, conductors, July 21.

Performances

On April 17, 2002, Andrew Berger-Crosse, soprano saxophone, and Samantha Yarbrough, baritone saxophone, played Duo Sonata (1997) at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.  The Valley Chamber Musicians gave a performance of Pastorale and Tarantella (2000), February 10, 2002, at Dove of the Desert United Methodist Church, in Glendale, AZ.  In Oss, the Netherlands, Invention for Two (1999) was heard with the Spectrum Duo, December 11, 2001.  Lawrence Gwozdz led the Sax-Chamber Orchestra in Octet for Saxophones (1975), October 20, 2001, at the University of Southern Mississippi, in Hattiesburg.  The Orchard Park High School Wind Ensemble, Carducci conducting, presented Africaand theFinalefrom Angel Band Suite (1999), June 18, 2002.

Publications

Pastorale and Tarantella,soprano and alto saxophones and piano; Soliloquy and Scherzo,sopranino saxophone and piano; Millennial Quartet, SATB saxophones; all by ETHOS Publications.Elegy 2001,English horn or alto saxophone and piano, Tenuto Publications (Presser).  Celebration (2001), twelve trombones; Ensemble Publications.

Recordings

Music for 12 Saxophones (1997), Sax-Chamber Orchestra, Gwozdz, conductor; Roméo Records, via Qualiton.  Concerto for 23 Winds (1957), University of Georgia Wind Symphony, H. Dwight Satterwhite, conductor.

**Sigma Alpha Iota Friend of the Arts

Further Information

• 2000-2001 American Composers Update
• 1999-2000 American Composers Update
• 1998-1999 American Composers Update
• 1997-1998 American Composers Update
• 1996-1997 American Composers Update
• SAI's Composers Bureau Online