The Assembly Quartet recently commissioned two new compositions for the 17th World Saxophone Congress: a work by Guggenheim Fellow and ACA composer Marilyn Shrude, and one by award-winning BMI Student Composer Kurt Isaacson.
Shrude’s quartet energy flows nervously...in search of stillnesswas premiered on July 10, 2015 in Strasbourg, France. The premiere was given by the Assembly Quartet, a professional chamber music ensemble whose mission is to promote music education and expand the enjoyment of music for people of all ages. The Quartet’s principal objective is to engage with audiences in public schools and communities, working with students and audiences that often have limited experience with chamber music or with the music of our time. The ensemble is committed to advancing the saxophone quartet repertoire by commissioning, premiering, and advocating new music for the instrument. They have been featured in recital and as concerto soloists with the Minot Symphony Orchestra, and will perform the Philip Glass Saxophone Quartet Concert with the Motor City Symphony Orchestra and the Florence Symphony Orchestra during the 2014-15 season. The quartet has commissioned and premiered works by David Maslanka, Simon Fink, Benjamin Taylor, and Girard Kratz.