UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 9, Page 4
October 27, 1994
Arts series brings Prism Quartet to recital hall

     The Prism Quartet, a sax and MIDI ensemble, will perform at 8
p.m., Friday, Nov. 11, in the Loudis Recital Hall in the Amy E. du
Pont Music Building as part of the University's Performing Arts
Series.
     The group also will present a free, public master class and also
a demonstration at 2:30 p.m. the same day.
     The Prism Quartet has been acclaimed throughout the United States
for its accomplished and widely varied performances encompassing
recitals, orchestra engagements, master classes, residencies and, most
recently, innovative work with electronic music.
     Chosen by Musical America as Outstanding Young Artists of 1989
and prize winners in the 1989 Fischoll National Chamber Music
Competition, Prism is rapidly fulfilling its goal to bring the
saxophone quartet from obscurity to the concert hall as a legitimate
chamber ensemble.
     The Prism Quartet is the first group of its kind to perform
electronic chamber music in addition to the saxophone quartet
repertoire. As Yamaha Performing Artists, Prism members serve as
instructors, performers and clinicians for the Yamaha WX7 Electronic
Wind Controller, as well as the new Wind Jammer. Both instruments are
capable of producing virtually any synthesized sound. Shaped by the
performer's ability, the instruments are capable of tremendous nuance
and lend electronic music an uncharacteristic expressiveness and
warmth.
     Truly a crossover group, Prism draws its repertoire from original
compositions, classical transcriptions, jazz and electronic and avant-
garde 20th-century works.
     Prism maintains an annual residency at the University of Redlands
in California, site of the New Sounds Music Festival, which is
dedicated to the artistic development of the saxophone and the
electronic wind controller. The festival is highlighted each year by
Prism's concerts of world and West Coast premieres of works composed
specifically for these instruments.
     Prism recently made its recording debut on the Koch International
Classics label to rave reviews.
     In its busy schedule, Prism has performed with the Chamber Music
Society of Lincoln Center, at the Eastman School of Music, in a l0-day
residency as artists at the Pabst in Milwaukee and a premiere with the
Nassau Symphony of a major work for saxophone quartet and orchestra by
Chicago composer Larry Rapchak.
     Prism's Newark appearance is presented under the auspices of the
Settlement Music School, with support from Chamber Music America and
the National Endowment for the Arts. Tickets are $10 for the general
public, $8 for University faculty, staff and senior citizens and $4
for students.
     For tickets or more information, contact the Hartshorn box office
at 831-2204.