In early January of 2013, I was informed that there was a music project that would be taking place at the School of Music at Schenectady County Community College near my home. A professor at the school, Mr. Brett L. Wery, stated that he was planning to take sabbatical in the fall of 2013, and during his time off he would be composing music for three woodwind quartets in what came to be called “The Brett L. Wery Chamber Music Project.”
During the spring of 2013, Mr. Wery began looking for nine high school juniors and seniors who played flute, clarinet, and saxophone as their primary instruments, as he wanted to ensure that each of the students he chose would be an excellent musician who would dedicate him or herself to helping him execute his project in composition. Mr. Wery began holding auditions for each student that was interested, and he discovered that he had an abundance of clarinetists and flutists. However, Mr. Wery was struggling to find classical saxophonists, so he enlisted other music educators from the SCCC School of Music to help him in his search. My saxophone instructor was one of those music educators, and although I did not make the age requirement, he asked if I would like to audition for Mr. Wery’s project. I readily agreed, and I am thankful that I did: I was selected as the first alto saxophonist in the saxophone quartet.
In the summer of 2013, the quartets attended a week long “boot camp” with Mr. Wery, in which we prepared four pieces to be played in a debut concert at the end of the week. During this week, the quartets also explained to Mr. Wery the inspiration and style for piece that they wanted composed for them. Our saxophone quartet decided that we would like a dance suite with some sort of Spanish flair to be composed for us. I was extremely excited; I had never been given the opportunity to choose exactly what kind of piece I would like to play.
In mid-Fall of 2013, Mr. Wery sent the students their respective parts for the completed pieces, and a rigorous rehearsal schedule was created. The piece for the saxophone quartet was called “Latin Dance Suite for Saxophones,” and it consisted of four movements: Prelude, Pasodoble, Waltz, and Tango. The student musicians began individual and group rehearsals with Mr. Wery in order to prepare for the premiere of the works on January 30, 2014.
In one of our winter rehearsals, Mr. Wery informed us that we would not only be debuting the pieces in a concert, but also debuting them on a recording. I was beyond ecstatic; I had always wanted to be a part of a recording process, either as the engineer or as the musician. This opportunity continued to prove to be one of my proudest achievements.
While I enjoyed the premiere of the works at the concert, I was more excited to be recording the pieces a week later in the beautiful, new recording studio at the school. On our first recording day, we walked into the studio and were immediately asked to put on headphones, warm-up, and adjust our headphone mixers while Mr. Wery and the engineer adjusted microphones. When everything seemed to be ready, we began playing and recording our pieces. After about two hours, we ended the session for the day, only to return within the next few days to finish recording. The CD of our work was released in November 2015.
My involvement in the Brett L. Wery Project piqued my interest in engineering: I was curious as to what it would be like on the other side of the glass window of the recording studio, sitting at the soundboard. I wanted, and still want, to understand the signal processing, microelectronic systems, circuitry, and the physics of sound production through transducers. And that's how my Signature project began.
During the spring of 2013, Mr. Wery began looking for nine high school juniors and seniors who played flute, clarinet, and saxophone as their primary instruments, as he wanted to ensure that each of the students he chose would be an excellent musician who would dedicate him or herself to helping him execute his project in composition. Mr. Wery began holding auditions for each student that was interested, and he discovered that he had an abundance of clarinetists and flutists. However, Mr. Wery was struggling to find classical saxophonists, so he enlisted other music educators from the SCCC School of Music to help him in his search. My saxophone instructor was one of those music educators, and although I did not make the age requirement, he asked if I would like to audition for Mr. Wery’s project. I readily agreed, and I am thankful that I did: I was selected as the first alto saxophonist in the saxophone quartet.
In the summer of 2013, the quartets attended a week long “boot camp” with Mr. Wery, in which we prepared four pieces to be played in a debut concert at the end of the week. During this week, the quartets also explained to Mr. Wery the inspiration and style for piece that they wanted composed for them. Our saxophone quartet decided that we would like a dance suite with some sort of Spanish flair to be composed for us. I was extremely excited; I had never been given the opportunity to choose exactly what kind of piece I would like to play.
In mid-Fall of 2013, Mr. Wery sent the students their respective parts for the completed pieces, and a rigorous rehearsal schedule was created. The piece for the saxophone quartet was called “Latin Dance Suite for Saxophones,” and it consisted of four movements: Prelude, Pasodoble, Waltz, and Tango. The student musicians began individual and group rehearsals with Mr. Wery in order to prepare for the premiere of the works on January 30, 2014.
In one of our winter rehearsals, Mr. Wery informed us that we would not only be debuting the pieces in a concert, but also debuting them on a recording. I was beyond ecstatic; I had always wanted to be a part of a recording process, either as the engineer or as the musician. This opportunity continued to prove to be one of my proudest achievements.
While I enjoyed the premiere of the works at the concert, I was more excited to be recording the pieces a week later in the beautiful, new recording studio at the school. On our first recording day, we walked into the studio and were immediately asked to put on headphones, warm-up, and adjust our headphone mixers while Mr. Wery and the engineer adjusted microphones. When everything seemed to be ready, we began playing and recording our pieces. After about two hours, we ended the session for the day, only to return within the next few days to finish recording. The CD of our work was released in November 2015.
My involvement in the Brett L. Wery Project piqued my interest in engineering: I was curious as to what it would be like on the other side of the glass window of the recording studio, sitting at the soundboard. I wanted, and still want, to understand the signal processing, microelectronic systems, circuitry, and the physics of sound production through transducers. And that's how my Signature project began.
