Ricardo Martinez Natsuki Fukasawa
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
7:30 pm
Recital Hall
Juan Carlos Entrambasaguas, guest saxophone
TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2025, 7:30 PM
Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano (1924–26) 12′
Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)
Juan Carlos Entrambasaguas, soprano saxophone
Ricardo Martinez, tenor saxophone
Natsuki Fukasawa, piano
Powerhouse (2021) 8′
Karalyn Schubring (b. 1999)
Juan Carlos Entrambasaguas, soprano saxophone
Ricardo Martinez, alto saxophone
Natsuki Fukasawa, piano
Staying the Night (2014)
David Biedenbender (b. 1984)
Juan Carlos Entrambasaguas, soprano saxophone
Ricardo Martinez, alto saxophone
Natsuki Fukasawa, piano
Rotte (2012–15)
No. 2
No. 1
Ricardo Martinez, alto saxophone
Junichi Murata (b. 1985)
Juan Carlos Entrambasaguas, alto saxophone
Lullaby (1990) 4′
Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)
Juan Carlos Entrambasaguas, alto saxophone 1
Ricardo Martinez, alto saxophone 2
Natsuki Fukasawa, piano
Lost (2008)
Jun Nagao (b. 1964)
Juan Carlos Entrambasaguas, alto saxophone 1
Ricardo Martinez, alto saxophone 2
Natsuki Fukasawa, piano
Paganini
PROGRAM NOTES
Poulenc: Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano
The Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano—one of Poulenc’s most popular chamber works—is in the spirit of an eighteenth-century divertissement: light and witty, yet spiced with dissonances. Though the combination of instruments is unusual, it is eminently logical, combining and contrasting the two members of the double-reed family with the percussive quality of the piano. While composing the Trio in Cannes in 1926, Poulenc took the advice of Ravel (with whom he had been studying) and based the opening Presto on a Haydn Allegro. The closing Rondo’s refrain begins as a near perfect quote of a well-known Beethoven melody until it makes a surprising turn into the fresh vocabulary of Poulenc’s own distinctive language. Poulenc hinted that he patterned this movement after a piano concerto by Saint-Saëns. The Andante is gracefully Mozartian, though any suggestion of parody is dispelled by alluring shifts of tonality and chromaticism. The Trio is dedicated to Manuel de Falla, whom Poulenc had met at the home of his teacher Ricardo Viñes in 1918. David Ewen writes, “Pictorially one is sometimes reminded of a chase, sometimes a dialogue. Normally, however, the main musical discourse is entrusted to the piano, while the bassoon is relegated to the role of a discreet commentator and the oboe is allowed to intensify the more lyrical flights. The very heart of Poulenc is in this adroit little work.”
—Joseph Way
Schubring: Powerhouse
Karalyn Schubring (BM ′20 University of Michigan) is a composer, pianist, and educator based in Mesa, Arizona. Her compositions often contain inspiration from nature imagery, improvisations, jazz-fusion-inspired grooves, musical games, and luxurious melodies. Her works have received recognitions from national organizations like MTNA, ACF, ACO, NPR’s From the Top, and ASCAP. Ever since a lightbulb inspiration moment in middle school, Karalyn has found tremendous joy and purpose in using her musical creativity to call forth the God-given creativity of her audience.
Schubring says of Powerhouse: “I am guilty of overusing the word ‘powerhouse’ when describing musicians whose virtuosity I deeply admire. I find it strange how the more we begin to respect and admire other people, the more we might be prone to dehumanize them with our language, transforming them into gods or machines. Yet there is something uniquely awe-inspiring about coming into contact with these seemingly superhumans. I drew a great deal of inspiration for this piece from a ‘powerhouse’ who sparked my own love for music: pianist/composer Hiromi Uehara and her work with The Trio Project. Powerhouse explores the idea of generating energy as a trio unit through constant dynamic shifts, unpredictable rhythms, and the irresistible power of groove.”
—Karalyn Schubring
PROGRAM NOTES
Biedenbender: Staying the Night
Staying the Night was commissioned by the Crescent Duo and Central Michigan University and is a collaborative project with poet Robert Fanning, whose poem should always precede this piece in performance in recorded form (recording available through the composer). Robert’s beautiful words served as the stimulus for this music, and I am deeply indebted to him for his work, without which this piece could not exist.
—David Biedenbender
Murata: Rotte
This work is a series of pieces composed between 2012 and 2015 for two identical instruments. The title Rotte is a term referring to a pair of fighter jets in a formation. The name was chosen because the two instruments complement each other and trace one another’s trajectories. Although it is in the form of a duet, neither instrument is the accompaniment, and the unique feature is that the melody and accompaniment emerge by overlapping with each other.
No. 2
The piece is composed using polyrhythms that change beats within a 12/8 time signature. The idea for the piece was created when the composer stayed in Italy in 2008. The piece has a Latin feel, and is inspired by virtuoso pieces played on the accordion.
No. 1
This is the first piece I created, and it best represents the concept of Rotte. The two parts are combined to complete the melody. I composed it with the theme of "a modern piece with a classical sound."
—Junichi Murata
Higdon: Lullaby
Pulitzer-prize winner Jennifer Higdon started late in music, teaching herself to play flute at the age of 15 and then beginning formal musical studies at 18, with an even later start in composition at the age of 21. Despite this late start, Higdon has become a major figure in contemporary classical music and makes her living from commissions, completing between 5 to 10 pieces a year. The League of American Orchestras reports that she is one of America’s most frequently performed composers, enjoying several hundred performances a year of her works.
Lullaby is presented here in one of several versions by the composer of her original composition for a new instrumentation. Higdon says: “Lullaby was written in honor of the birth of Samantha Clausen, the first daughter of my
PROGRAM NOTES
friends, Karen and Marty Clausen. I was classmates with Karen at BGSU and we’re good friends . . . anyway . . . it’s sort of a simple premise to a piece, but in today’s world of complications, I like simplicity. It was originally scored for mezzo, flute, and piano.”
—Jennifer Higdon
Nagao: Paganini Lost
Jun Nagao received his master’s degree from Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, where he majored in composition under Masayuki Nagatomi and Teruyuki Noda. He won the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award in 2000. He has written many works for saxophone and other wind instruments, in both chamber and symphony settings. For two alto saxophones and piano, Paganini Lost (2008) was written at the request of the distinguished Japanese saxophonist Nobuya Sugawa. Paganini Lost appears as a metamorphosis in the form of abstract variations of Paganini’s 24th Caprice. According to the Japanese composer, Paganini Lost is a metaphorical reference to the epic poem by John Milton, Paradise Lost. Here, the two alto saxophones are in constant dialogue with the piano and alternate very expressive phrases in a parallel energy.
—Ricardo Martinez
Ricardo Martinez is assistant professor of practice in saxophone at University of the Pacific. Martinez has been a featured soloist with the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San José, Stanford Summer Symphony, University of the Pacific Wind Band, the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Cergy-Pontoise Wind Ensemble in France, and the Mitaka City Orchestra in Japan. In addition, Martinez regularly performs with symphonies and festivals including the San Francisco Symphony, California Symphony, Classical Tahoe Music Festival, Sun Valley Music Festival, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and has recorded at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County. As an educator, Martinez has been invited to teach and perform at Stanford University, CSU (California State University) Summer Arts, the Indiana University Summer Saxophone Academy and give masterclasses in Japan. Martinez is a Yamaha Performing Artist and is endorsed by BG France and Legere Reeds.
Juan Carlos Entrambasaguas is a saxophone performer and music educator interested in contemporary and classical music. He has been developing his artistic activity in Finland, Spain and the United States. Juan Carlos performed as a soloist and with chamber music groups. He taught master classes and played with different artists at high-performance levels.
Juan Carlos has a master's degree in classical saxophone performance from the University of the Arts of Helsinki, studying with saxophonist Joonatan Rautiola. He has a wide variety of teaching and group managing experience at the conservatory and university level. He currently holds a teaching position as a woodwind instructor at the San Francisco Community Music Center. Juan Carlos taught several master classes in different European countries such as Norway, Finland, Spain and the United States. During January of 2024, he also performed a recital with the pianist Casey Dierlam Tse at the International Saxophone Symposium, hosted by the United States Navy Band in Fairfax, VA.
Along his performance trajectory, Juan Carlos has played concerts internationally in Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Andorra, and Croatia, and has performed at the International Saxophone Symposium, American Saxophone Academy, Manhattan School of Music, the Helsinki Music Center. He has played as a soloist with the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra,
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Youth Orchestra of Salamanca (Spain), Helsinki Saxophone Orchestra, and SaxibA Ensemble. He has also attended many workshops with well-known musicians, such as Claude Delangle, Arno Bornkamp, Timothy McAllister, Otis Murphy, Marcus Weiss, Vincent David, Jean-Denis Michat, to name a few.
Steinway Artist Natsuki Fukasawa serves on the conservatory faculty of University of the Pacific as well as for theTalis Festival and AcademyandOrfeo Music Festival. She also enjoys nurturing young talents in her own private studio. Her students’ accomplishments include appearances in the NPR show From the Top, top prizes in Chopin National Competition, MTAC Young Artist Guild and Philadelphia International Competition.
Fukasawa has performed in Australia, Bosnia, Brazil, China, Denmark, England, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.S. She is a recipient of the Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year from the Danish Music Awards. In addition, Fukasawa is the pianist on the soundtrack of recent film We Had to Go—Remembering Internment. She has released a live solo album Year in Prague and coreleased albums Voices from Easter Europe with violinist Igor Veligan and Vocalise with bassoonist Scott Pool. In 2022 she collaborated on the album Song of the Redwood Tree from MSR Classics. In 2023, Fukasawa performed as a soloistGershwin’s Concerto in Fat Mondavi Center. She also released a new video recording of a commissioned work Invisibles by Miguel del Aguilá, and was featured as one of the convention artists at the 2023 Music Teachers’ Association of California Annual Convention.
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