The Palmetto Saxophone Quartet Concert at Sigal Music Museum
Doors open at 7:00 PM | Concert begins at 7:30 PM
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The Palmetto Saxophone Quartet is a dynamic ensemble dedicated to exploring new repertoire and delivering unique and profound performances of classic and forgotten scores. As teaching-artists, they are also passionate about nurturing the next generation of saxophonists and chamber musicians through clinics and masterclasses. Formed in the summer of 2019, the ensemble consists of American saxophone virtuoso Clifford Leaman and former students who are now formidable and world-renowned artists in their own right: Andrew J. Allen, Sheldon Johnson, and Matthew Castner. They are proud artist-endorsers of Key Leaves products.
Associate Dean, Director of Graduate Studies, and Professor of Saxophone at the University of South Carolina, Clifford Leaman is in great demand as a soloist and clinician and has performed and taught throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Sweden, Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, and China. He has recorded four compact discs with piano, and two discs with percussionist Scott Herring as the RoseWind Duo. In addition to his work with piano and marimba, Leaman has performed as a concerto soloist with numerous Wind Ensembles and Orchestras and has recorded concerti by Brant, Bassett, and Dahl. He has given masterclasses at the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference, the International Navy Band Symposium the World Saxophone Congress and the Asian Saxophone Congress in addition to major schools of music and conservatories across the globe.
Dr. Leaman is the soprano saxophone chair in the Palmetto Saxophone quartet and performs in a variety of chamber ensembles. An avid supporter of contemporary music, Leaman has commissioned and given the world premiere performances of over 35 works, including concerti by William Bolcom, Leslie Bassett, Frank Ticheli, Stacy Garrop, and Michael Colgrass. Leaman is an artist-clinician for D’Addario, Tea Leaves and the Conn-Selmer Company, Inc. and performs exclusively on Selmer saxophones and D’Addario Reserve reeds.
As an active soloist, Dr. Sheldon Johnson has presented performances at the North American Saxophone Alliance’s Biennial Conference, the College Music Society’s Regional Conference, as soloist with the Bowling Green State University Philharmonia, the Roanoke Youth Symphony Orchestra, and in many other public recitals and concerts. As a chamber musician, Dr. Johnson is currently the alto chair in the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet and has performed as part of the St. Olavfestdagene in Trondheim, Norway, the United States Navy Band’s International Saxophone Symposium, the Treetops Chamber Music Society’s concert series, the University of South Carolina’s Southern Exposure concert series, and as part of a film project with artist Matthew Barney. Dr. Johnson teaches saxophone at Radford University. He holds a BM from Northwestern University, an MM from Bowling Green State University, and a DMA from the University of South Carolina. His teachers include David Jacobsen, Frederick L. Hemke, John Sampen, and Clifford Leaman. He is a Conn-Selmer and Key Leaves endorsing artist.
Andrew J. Allen has been lauded as “a master of all sizes of saxophone,” by The Instrumentalist, while The Saxophonist has hailed his “virtuosic saxophone performance,” and The Saxophone Symposium has cited his “complete control of the instrument.” As a concerto soloist, Allen has appeared with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, along with numerous academic ensembles, and he has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, and Croatia as a soloist and chamber musician. He has premiered more than two dozen works from such composers as François Rossé, Robert Lemay, Fang Man, Jesse Jones, Greg Simon, and Jay Batzner. Allen’s recordings include Step Inside: New American Music for Saxophone and Percussion and The Avenging Spirit, both on the Equilibrium label, and he is a featured soloist on Spring Shadows: Electronic Solo Works by Anne Neikirk on Ravello Records. Present chamber ensemble activities include the percussion and saxophone group Rogue Two (with Gordon Hicken), the flute and saxophone ensemble The Allen Duo (with Elise Naber Allen), and the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet. Allen is Associate Professor of Saxophone, Coordinator of Winds & Percussion, and Coordinator of the Bachelor of Arts in Music at Georgia College & State University, and he serves as President-Elect of the North American Saxophone Alliance. His primary teachers include Phil Barham, John Nichol, and Clifford Leaman, and he has received additional instruction from Joseph Lulloff at the Brevard Music Center; Claude Delangle, Vincent David, and Arno Bornkamp at the European University of Saxophone; and Christine Rall at the Rascher Saxophone Quartet Workshop. Allen is a Conn-Selmer Artist-Clinician, a Vandoren Performing Artist, and a Key Leaves Endorsing Artist, and he performs exclusively on Selmer Paris saxophones and Vandoren mouthpieces, reeds, and ligatures.
Joseph S. Lyons is a saxophonist and artistic designer based in Columbia, SC. Lyons is currently pursuing a DMA in Saxophone Performance at the University of South Carolina, where he researches experimental applications of modular synthesizers as independent instruments in saxophone chamber music. Lyons is an active performer and designer in the pageantry arts. From 2014-2017 he was a member of the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps, and in 2023 he was the featured soloist in the Bluecoats’ SoundSport ensemble, Rhythm IN BLUE. Lyons is the Program Coordinator of TECH.tonl, a saxophone/modular synthesizer duo dedicated to exploring potential uses of creative technology. TECH.tonl has presented at CU-Boulder, CU-Denver, and the 2023 NASA Biennial Conference. Lyons holds degrees from the University of Georgia (BME), Georgia State University (MM), and Stephen F. Austin State University (PAC); his primary teachers are Connie Frigo, Jan Berry Baker, Nathan Nabb, Clifford Leaman, and Lauren Meccia.
