This is the second in a series of composer profiles from the Open Space Festival Call For Scores. For more information on The Open Space Festival of new music, visit our website.
Katherine Saxon, raised Santa Monica, California is now enjoying a versatile and growing career composing works from large-scale choral pieces down to intricate chamber music. She began pursuing her love for music by studying voice at William’s College and went on to achieve her Master’s in Music Composition from the University of Oregon. Saxon returned home and studied to receive her PhD in Music from the University of California.
Dr. Saxon has founded several ensembles and conducts multiple choirs in the Santa Barbara area. Her most prominent passion is helping create new music, and now offers lessons and tutoring in music composition to a wide variety of music lovers who want to bring their ideas to life. Her own works have been performed at multiple festivals both regional and national, and even received first prize for her work “Speed and Perfection” in the San Francisco Choral Artists’ 2012 New Voices Competition.
During her tenure at UNC for the Open Space Festival, her work, Quilt I, will be performed. A composition for flute, clarinet, violin, and cello, Saxon describes this piece as “Inspired by my mother's quitling practices, Quilt I was "patched" together using both isorhythym and fugue. The talea (rhythm) of the isorhythm was derived from length of the seams in the house-quilt pattern that my mother uses, and the colour (pitches) were taken from the trouvere chanson de toile "Belle Doette." On top of this I built a fugue. Like a quilt, this composition has a front and a back.”
For more information on Saxon, visit her website.
Sakari Dixon, Composer and Violist, hails from Southern California with a dedication to diversity in new music. Her passion was cultivated at a young age, when she began to study the violin at eight years old. She is dedicated to promoting contemporary music and has performed her works with a variety of ensembles. Dixon received honors when she graduated from the University of Redlands with a Bachelor of Music in Composition.
Ms. Dixon currently teaches violin, viola, theory, and composition lessons to students from a variety of ages and skill level in Redlands, California. Saxon also blogs about her experiences with students from five years old up to experienced musicians. Her insightful posts outline the lessons she has learned and the rewards of teaching.
Sakari’s work, FeRal, a piece for alto sax, violin, viola, and cello will be performed at the Open Space Festival. Dixon says, “I found the title attractive because anything that is feral is difficult if not impossible to constrain or pin down. Likewise, the opening melody in the saxophone, though distinctive, never repeats itself in its entirety. Every iteration of the melody is some sort of variation or ‘teaser.’ The tempo marking for the opening of the piece is also described as ‘rash,’ affirming the impulsive nature of the piece.” The UNC Open Space Festival looks forward to welcoming her and her composition this spring.
To read more about Dixon, visit her website.
