Nordic Chamber Music: Finland – Sax-o-Finn
Suggested donation: $30 ($20 senior, $10 student/child)
- Soren Hamm, saxophone
- Fred Winkler, saxophone
- Erik Steighner, saxophone
- Evan Smith, saxophone
Luis Pasquet — Three Pieces for Quartet of Saxophones
Sebastian Fagerlund — Short Stories
Tomi Räisänen — Under the Apple Tree (U.S. premiere)
Tapani Länsiö — Pastoraalisarja
Traditional — Säkkijärven polkka (arr. Johann Tilli)
Experience Finland as never before. A quartet of saxophones featuring some of the best saxophone players Seattle has to offer will jazz up the northern land with solos and ensembles of two, three, and four.
In lieu of tickets this year we are offering the concerts to all regardless of financial position. With several suggested donation levels, we hope you’ll consider pre-registering for the concerts, supporting the full season, or donating at whatever level is comfortable for you. If you are not able to donate but would like to attend, we welcome you as you are. We are able to continue to provide this series because of the generosity of individuals like you. Thank you. Takk. Tak. Tack. Takk. Kiitos.
About Nordic Chamber Music
Nordic Chamber Music presents chamber music concerts featuring music from each of the five Nordic countries each year, plus a sixth concert highlighting one of the countries neighboring the region. Musicians from the Pacific Northwest, across the US, and from abroad grace the NCM stage, brining works otherwise unheard in our region. With Laura Loge as Artistic Director, the series is produced by the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society.
https://nordicchambermusic.orgAbout Soren Hamm, saxophone
Heard on the popular radio programs Performance Today and Northwest Focus Live, saxophonist Soren Hamm teaches on the faculties of Seattle Pacific University and Pierce College Puyallup. He is the only person to win both the Solo and (with the Equus Saxophone Quartet) Chamber Ensemble divisions of Seattle's Frances Walton Competition, and was a winner of the Northwest MTNA Competitions on multiple occasions. He has performed with some of the Puget Sound's pre-eminent ensembles, including the Northwest Sinfonietta, Seattle Modern Orchestra, and Opus 7 Choir; in 2023, he made his Benaroya Hall debut as soloist with the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra on Ibert's Concertino da Camera.
Soren is an avid promoter of new music for saxophone. His work with composers including Dai Fujikura, Marilyn Shrude, and Seattle's John Muehleisen, among many others, has resulted in dozens of premieres, as well as performances at the Bowling Green New Music Festival, Ball State New Music Festival, and the New Music Gathering. Soren is a founding member of Onomatopoeia, the world's first flute/saxophone/horn trio, and helped commission the first original repertoire for this combination of instruments.
Soren holds degrees from Bowling Green State University (MM) and the University of Oregon (BM), graduating from the latter with the distinction of Outstanding Undergraduate Performer in Woodwinds; he also completed Music Education studies at Western Washington University. His teachers include John Sampen, Idit Shner, and Fred Winkler.
https://sites.google.com/view/sorenhamm/homeAbout Fred Winkler, saxophone
Saxophonist Fred Winkler has become one of the leading concert saxophonists in the Pacific Northwest performing frequently as a soloist and chamber musician. An advocate of new music, Mr. Winkler has been involved in the premieres of many compositions for saxophone, including his own arrangement of the Dvorak Piano Quintet Op. 81, which was nationally premiered at the 2011 MTNA Chamber Music Competition held in Milwaukee, WI. Mr. Winkler has performed as part of the Northwest Sinfonietta, Spokane Symphony, Federal Way Symphony, Seattle Philharmonic, Olympia Symphony, Washington/Idaho Symphony, Marrowstone Music Festival, University of Washington Contemporary Music Group, Jacobsen Concert Series, Olympia Symphony, Zephyr Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the Couer d’Alene Summer Theatre Orchestra.
Nationally recognized as a music teacher, many of his students are accepted into the best graduate music schools in the country. Frequently his students are rated with top honors at state, regional, and national competitions, most recently the MTNA competition for woodwinds and chamber music, Beatrice Hermann competition for musicians, and the WMEA State Solo & Ensemble Contest. Mr. Winkler received his undergraduate degree from Washington State University, studying with saxophonist and composer Dr. Gregory W. Yasinitsky, and his MMus from Northwestern University, studying with renowned saxophonist Dr. Frederick L. Hemke. Currently, Mr. Winkler is on the faculty of University of Puget Sound as an affiliate artist, faculty of the community music department, and coordinator for the community chamber music program.
https://cfpa.wwu.edu/people/winklef