Yuki Nishimura
saxophone
Ricardo Martinez
saxophone
Patricia Grimm piano
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
7:30 pm
Recital Hall
The Chaser (2001)
Lovers on the Celestial Sphere (2006)
Concerto (1999) Song: Fire in the Earth
(1943–2017)
Dances (1993)
Takashi Hoshide (b. 1962)
Jun Nagao (b. 1964)
David Maslanka
Gary Schocker (b. 1959)
PROGRAM NOTES
Hoshide: The Chaser
Takashi Hoshide (b. 1962), born in Yamaguchi, Japan, is a composer and arranger of wind band music. The Chaser (2001) is a brief work whose title refers to the interplay between the alto and tenor saxophones representing a musical pursuit. The opening homorhythmic writing places the two saxophones in rhythmic unison, creating the impression that the pursuer and the pursued begin in step with one another. The middle section features imitation representing the pursuit. Finally, the music closes with the opening theme in rhythmic unison, suggesting an end to the chase.
— Ricardo Martinez
Nagao: Lovers on the Celestial Sphere
Lovers on the Celestial Sphere (2006) by Japanese composer Jun Nagao (b. 1964) for soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, and piano is a work commissioned by saxophonist Nobuya Sugawa. There is a widely popular legend introduced from China to Japan called “Tanabata.” The composer writes, “I portray Altir and Vega, separately located on either bank of the Milky Way, as a man and a woman in the legend, who are allowed to see each other only once a year on July 7. Soprano and tenor sax in this piece overlap as they represent the couple of the Tanabata legend. I have intended to describe a sentimental love story unfolded high up in the sky on a hot summer night.”
— Crystal Records CD359 (liner notes)
Maslanka: Concerto
David Maslanka (1943–2017) was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1943. He attended the Oberlin College Conservatory where he studied composition with Joseph Wood. He spent a year at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and did master's and doctoral study in composition at Michigan State University where his principal teacher was H. Owen Reed. Maslanka’s music for winds has become especially well known. Among his more than 150 works are over 50 pieces for wind ensemble, including eight symphonies, seventeen concertos, a Mass, and many concert pieces. His chamber music includes four wind quintets, five saxophone quartets, and many works for solo instrument and piano. In addition, he has written a variety of orchestral and choral pieces.
Maslanka’s compositions are published by Maslanka Press, Carl Fischer, Kjos Music, Marimba Productions, and OU Percussion Press. They have been
PROGRAM NOTES
recorded on Albany, Reference Recordings, BIS (Sweden), Naxos, Cambria, CRI, Mark, Novisse, AUR, Cafua (Japan), Brain Music (Japan), Barking Dog, and Klavier labels. He served on the faculties of the State University of New York at Geneseo, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, and Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York, and was a freelance composer in Missoula, Montana from 1990 until his death in 2017.
“This concerto turned out to be a good deal larger than I would reasonably want. As I got into the composing, the ideas became insistent: none of them would be left out! The format of Songs and Interludes arises from my other recent works for saxophones (Mountain Roads for saxophone quartet and Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba) and suggests a music that is more intimate than symphonic. There is a strong spiritual overtone with quotes from Bach Chorales, and from my own works Hell’s Gate and Mass.
I. Song: ‘Fire in the Earth’
Walking through a Montana field on a brilliant late fall day, three images came in rapid succession: a distant row of red plant stems caught by the morning sun, snow on the surrounding high mountains, green grass at my feet. The following poetic image came:
Fire in the earth
Snow in the heavens
New green grass in the middle of November
This is a quiet, emotional music—sometimes not so quiet—contained by a very simple song form.
—davidmaslanka.com
Schocker: Three Dances
Three Dances (1993), originally for two flutes and piano, is a staple of the flute duet repertoire. The first movement is a light, conversational “dialogue” between the two, the second is reflective, and the third (“Coffee Nerves”) is a high-energy, virtuosic showpiece. The saxophone duet version was arranged by Japanese saxophonist Yo Matsushita. His performance of Three Dances on YouTube made a strong impression on Schocker, leading him to authorize the version for publication.
—carlfischer.com
Yuki Nishimura was born in Hiroshima, Japan, and began studying the saxophone at the age of 10. She graduated from Elisabeth University of Music and has received awards in several competitions. In 2015, she was selected as a soloist for the 22nd New Artist Development Project Orchestra Series, where she performed Henri Tomasi’s Saxophone Concerto with the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.
From 2015 to 2020, Nishimura was active as a performer in Toronto, Canada. She studied classical saxophone under Yoshiki Omori and Keiji Munesada, and jazz saxophone under Masahiro Fujioka. Since 2023, she has been residing in Orange County, California, where she maintains a private teaching studio.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Ricardo Martinez maintains an active performing and teaching career in Northern California where he serves as assistant professor of saxophone at University of the Pacific.
Martinez has appeared as featured soloist with the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San José, Stanford Summer Symphony, University of the Pacific Wind Bands and University Symphony Orchestra, 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, Sun Valley Music Festival, Classical Tahoe, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, California Symphony, Modesto Symphony, and has recorded at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County. He is a prizewinner in several national chamber music competitions including Grand Prize at The Plowman Chamber Music Competition.
As an educator, Martinez has been invited to teach and perform at Stanford University, California State University Summer Arts, the Indiana University Summer Saxophone Academy, and in masterclasses in Japan.
Martinez is a Yamaha Performing Artist and is endorsed by BG France and Legere Reeds.
Patricia Grimm is assistant professor of practice at University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music. She teaches sight singing, collaborative piano, and serves as a collaborative pianist with students, faculty, and guest artists.
Grimm holds a Bachelor of Music degree in sacred music with organ concentration from Duquesne University, a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Kent State University, and a Master of Music degree in collaborative piano from the Hartt School of Music. She also studied piano with Jonathan Feldman at the Juilliard School.
As a collaborative pianist, Grimm has performed at the Edinburgh International Music Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland; the Trinity Wall Street Music Series in New York City; and chamber music concerts at the Musica no Museu Festival of Winds, Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, and Universidade Federal Do Estado Do Rio De Janeiro – Unirio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She regularly performs throughout the United States as a collaborative pianist and chamber musician.
Prior to moving to Sacramento in 2013, she was a freelance collaborative pianist in the New York City metropolitan area and staff accompanist at Central Connecticut State University, in addition to maintaining an active private teaching studio. Currently, she serves as organist at Fremont Presbyterian Church in Sacramento.
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