Bowerbird is pleased to present Matthew Levy at The Rotunda for a record release concert of music for tenor saxophone and electronics.

Matthew Levy — founding member of the world-renowned PRISM Quartet — steps out as soloist for a record release recital celebrating his ongoing exploration of music for tenor saxophone and electronics. The concert takes its name from James Primosch’s Water Can Assume Any Form, the beloved Philadelphia composer’s final, unfinished work — Levy completed its second movement at Primosch’s request, weaving his improvisation into his late friend’s soundtrack “with the hope of channeling his ideas into my own,” in what Levy calls “our most poignant collaboration.”

The program features three works from Levy’s latest album alongside two previously recorded works: Emma O’Halloran’s Sum of Its Parts, recorded for XAS Records — the piece that launched this whole electro-acoustic project, built from samples of Levy’s own playing — and Nicholas Cline’s Water Witching, written for saxophonist Jeff Siegfried and recorded by Levy for Navona Records. Across the evening, composers have recorded, synthesized, and reimagined elements of Levy’s own playing — subtones, growls, multiphonics, percussive articulation — into fantastical electronic soundscapes he then performs against, live and often improvising, in real time.

Also on the program is Erin Busch’s can’t find the words, a work of sublime delicacy written by Levy’s colleague on the Temple University faculty. Each piece treats the saxophone-and-track format differently — from intimate memorial to abstracted meditation on water and land. Amid that electronic backdrop sits the one fully acoustic work of the night (also written for Levy): Paola Prestini’s Where the Blue Wave Rocks, a Kandinsky-inspired meditation on color, connection, and communication, offering a moment of unprocessed clarity within the program.

Together, the compositions form a portrait of an instrument — and a performer — at the intersection of technology, memory, and imagination.

PROGRAM
can’t find the words (2019/2026) by Erin Busch
Water Can Assume Any Form (2021) by James Primosch
Where the Blue Wave Rocks (2006/2020) by Paola Prestini
Water Witching (2015) by Nicholas Cline
Sum of Its Parts (2018) by Emma O’Halloran

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Saxophonist, composer, curator, producer/engineer, and educator Matthew Levy has made an enduring contribution to contemporary music as co-founder and executive director of the world-renowned PRISM Quartet, and as a collaborator with other artists and ensembles for more than 40 years. Matt has been hailed by The Saxophone Journal as “a complete virtuoso of the tenor saxophone” and by The New York Times for his “energetic and enlivening” performances. He is the recipient of fellowships from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the Independence Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He has scored four motion pictures, including PBS’s Diary of a City Priest, featured at the Sundance Film Festival. Matt has recorded for Albany, BCM+D, BMOP/Sound, Deutsche Grammophon, ECM, Grammavision, Innova, Koch International, Navona, Naxos, New Dynamic, New Focus, Orange Mountain, Tzadik, and XAS, which he founded in 2016. People’s Emergency Center, a critically acclaimed double album of Matt’s original music that spotlights guest artists Jason Moran, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Tim Ries, Ben Monder, Jay Anderson, and Bill Stewart was described by PopMatters as “9 Stars, Best Jazz of 2014…too big to fail” and by WRTI as “magic with swirling precision.” A member of the Network for New Music Ensemble, Matt has premiered solo works by Emma O’Halloran, Paola Prestini, Nick DiBerardino, Renee Favand, Jacob Walls, Erin Busch, and David Ludwig; collaborated with a host of choreographers and dance companies, among them Nai-Ni Chen Dance Co., Philadelphia Ballet, Peter Sparling, Scrap Performance Group, and Group Motion Dance Theater; and appeared as a guest artist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Dolce Suono Ensemble, and counter)induction. His work with PRISM has included tours of China, Russia, and Latin America; concerto appearances with the Cleveland Orchestra and Dallas Symphony; and recital performances presented by Carnegie Hall and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He serves on the faculty of Temple University Boyer College of Music and Dance where he maintains a robust saxophone studio, is a member of the Producers & Engineers Wing and Songwriters & Composers Wing of the Recording Academy, and performs exclusively on Selmer saxophones.