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Salvador Flores, soprano saxophone
Walt Puyear, alto saxophone
Matthew Koester, tenor saxophone
Brian Kachur, baritone saxophone

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Program

Recently named Gold Medalists in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition’s Senior Wind Division, the Aero Quartet presents an eclectic program of works by Jennifer Higdon, Arturo Marquez, Robert Schumann, Gavin Bryars, Corey Dundee, and Hiromi Uehara. UW-Madison Division of the Arts Interdisciplinary Artist-In-Residence Arun Luthra joins Aero on John Coltrane’s prayer-like ballad Dear Lord, arranged by saxophonist Dave Liebman.

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Praised by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Grammy-winning composer Augusta Read Thomas for their “nuanced, colorful, and artfully sculpted” interpretations, the Aero Quartet is committed to promoting new and traditional chamber music for the saxophone. Aero’s performances are consistently recognized for their versatility and contrast, with original works and arrangements spanning centuries of musical tradition. The quartet has won numerous awards in chamber music competitions, including First Prizes at the New Orleans Chamber Festival, Music Teachers National Association, and Briggs Chamber Music Competitions. Most notably, Aero won the Gold Medal in the Senior Wind Division of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. This past fall, Aero completed a residency at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute in Boscawen, New Hampshire before embarking on the Fischoff Gold Medal Tour. The tour included performances at Thiel College, the Con Spirito Chamber Music Series, Valparaiso Concert Association, Midwest Young Artists Conservatory, Merrimans’ Playhouse Chamber Arts Series, and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert broadcast live on WFMT Chicago.

The quartet’s 2021/22 season will include visits to the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings Nightnotes Series. As major advocates for the music of living composers, Aero will premiere works by Gala Flagello and Jennifer Higdon in forthcoming recordings and concerts.

Aero has conducted educational outreach clinics for hundreds of middle and high school students across the Midwest. We think the mission of these school visits is captured perfectly in the endearing written reflection of a beginning band student from Southbend, IN, who stated, “I personally really like chamber music now, especially if it’s played with saxophones!”