University of Michigan Residency

On October 27, PRISM Quartet conducts a one-day residency at its alma mater, the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. The residency consists of an entrepreneurship presentation titled “The Making of Generate Music: Vision, Process, Practice,” a saxophone masterclass for students of Timothy McAllister, and a recital of contemporary music. All events take place at the Earl V. Moore Building, 1100 Baits Drive, on the University of Michigan’s North Campus in Ann Arbor.

PRISM Quartet presents a program that travels from the factory floor to a pine forest and from Hollywood to China. Four of the works were commissioned by PRISM, including Roshanne Etezady’s Inkling, a one-minute vignette written in 2004 for the ensemble’s twentieth anniversary. As its title suggests, it offers the merest hint of an idea, and its clouds of sound showcase PRISM’s flexibility and color. Don Byron’s new Quartet for Saxophones is a fearless homage to classic film scores of the ’50s and ’60s, from the title-sequence swagger of “Saul Bass” to a closing “Fandango.” Bright Sheng’s Old Tune Renewed takes its name from a Chinese tradition in which performers reinvent well-known compositions as new works. Sheng builds his piece on a folk song from Northwestern China, capturing the spirit of singing that rings through open valleys while imbuing it with his own voice. In selections from Chris Potter’s epic Improvisations, written for PRISM’s Heritage/Evolution series and recorded on Heritage/Evolution, Volume 2, jazz saxophonist Andrew Bishop improvises over the quartet, stepping into the solo role first shaped by Potter and Ravi Coltrane on the recording. The program’s other two works have deep Michigan roots. Bill Ryan’s Tiny Machines, a set of miniatures inspired by the robotic assembly line at Ford’s truck plant in Dearborn, is heard in an arrangement commissioned by the Sinta Quartet. Kristin Kuster wrote Red Pine for the Sinta Quartet to mark Don Sinta’s retirement from the University of Michigan. WNYC’s John Schaefer calls it “a sonic depiction of the simple beauty of the pine forests of Ontario.”

PRISM Quartet
Timothy McAllister, soprano saxophone
Zachary Shemon, alto saxophone
Matthew Levy, tenor saxophone
Taimur Sullivan, baritone saxophone

with Andrew Bishop, alto saxophone

PROGRAM

Inkling* (2004) by Roshanne Etezady

Tiny Machines (2017, arr. 2024) by Bill Ryan
Select movements to be announced

Red Pine (2014) by Kristin Kuster

Quartet for Saxophones* (2026) by Don Byron
Saul Bass
Palate Cleanser
Fandango

Old Tune Renewed* (2022) by Bright Sheng

Improvisations* (2015) by Chris Potter
Interludes 2, 3, and 4
Improvisation 5
Featuring Andrew Bishop

*Commissioned by PRISM Quartet

Guest Artist: Andrew Bishop

Andrew Bishop is a saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, composer, improviser, and educator whose work moves freely among jazz, contemporary concert music, and roots traditions. He is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the University of Michigan, where he teaches jazz saxophone, composition, and improvisation. He also directs the Interlochen Arts Academy Summer Jazz Institute and teaches at Interlochen’s Saxophone Institute. Bishop has recorded more than 40 albums as a sideman and leads his own ensembles, including the long-running trio Bishop/Cleaver/Flood, Andrew Bishop’s Hank Williams Project, and the global blues project Blue Origami. He also performs with Gerald Cleaver’s Violet Hour and Uncle June, the Ellen Rowe Quartet, and the new music group Opus 21. His recordings as a leader have drawn praise from The New York Times, DownBeat, and the Chicago Reader. As a composer and arranger, he has received more than 25 commissions, as well as recognition from ASCAP, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Mellon Foundation, and his Crooning was recorded by the Albany Symphony. Bishop studied with David Baker, Dave Liebman, Reggie Workman, Donald Sinta, William Albright, and William Bolcom, among others, and holds five degrees in music, including a DMA in composition from the University of Michigan. He is a Conn-Selmer and Vandoren artist.

Acknowledgement

This program is co-presented by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance and New Sounds Music, with support from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.