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(U.S.A.) |
Soprano saxophonist with the Amberst Saxophone Quartet, Susan Fancher in an artist-in-residence on the faculty of the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has performed extensively both as a soloist and chamber musician, touring in Austria, Albania, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, South Africa, Egypt, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, Canada and the USA. Her musical priorities center around the interpretation of contemporary music.
Ms. Fancher's arrangements of Steve Reich's New York Counterpoint, made with the kind permission and assistance of the composer, and Ben Johnston's Ponder Nothing, also by permission from the composer, are important additions to the saxophone repertoire. From 1992-1998, she was a member of the Vienna Saxophone Quartet, an ensemble dedicated to commissioning and performing new music. She is also a founding member of the Chicago-based new music ensemble MeloMania!, and performs in a free improvisation trio with Swedish percussionist Anders Åstrand and American saxophonist Mark Engebretson. Her recordings include CDs on the Philips label, Lotus Records Salzburg and with Östgötamusiken (Sweden), as well as numerous radio recordings in Sweden and Austria. She is currently recording a CD featuring solo works that have been composed especially for her. Susan Fancher completed her studies in Music and Mathematics with Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1987 from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she studied saxophone with Dr. Frederick Hemke. She received the First Prize in saxophone in 1988 from the Bordeaux Conservatory, where she studied with Prof. Jean-Marie Londeix. In fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music in saxophone performance at Northwestern University, Ms. Fancher is currently doing research for a dissertation on the saxophone music by Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988). |
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She Sings, She Screams [saxophone alto et bande magnétique / alto saxophone and tape] Ceci n'est pas une pipe... [saxophone alto amplifié / amplified alto saxophone] Rain-making song * [saxophone alto, clarinette, violon et piano / alto saxophoe, clarinet, violin and piano] avec la collaboration de: with the participation of: Véronique Lacroix, chef d'orchestre / conductor
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| Mark Engebretson writes about his composition:
"She Sings, She Screams for alto saxophone and tape was commissioned by Susan Fancher, with financial support from the Austrian Ministry of Culture. The premiere was given on February 18, 1995 by Ms. Fancher at a Kulturspektakel concert in the Stadtinitiative in Vienna. This piece represents my first work created in my own electronic music studio. It was created using a Korg 05R/w synthesizer and Cubase sequenzer. The work is made of three large sections (or arcs) of increasing intensity, with a short coda. The piece reflects my increasing interest in melody (in particular, melody using quarter-tones) and musical motion." About his piece, Keith Carpenter writes: "Ceci n'est pas une pipe... for amplified alto saxophone was written for Susan Fancher in the Winter of 1996. The piece takes its title from the textual underlay in the famous Magritte painting "La trahison images." The title is actually a multiple pun referring to a) the pipe-like shape of the alto saxophone, b) the fact that the piece leaves the performer breathless and c) the fact that the piece smokes, but yet it still is not a pipe. Musically, the piece is related to the first movement of a solo clarinet piece of mine, which I wrote some years ago. The name of that piece was simply "Pipe," and this is not that piece..." |
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