NOSTOS Album Reviews/Interview
Fanfare Magazine, 48:6 July/August 2025 Issue
Lucas Hopkins, saxophone
Er-Hsuan Li, piano
*Links to published review require archive membership
Review by Colin Clarke
All of the works on this disc were written within the last decade. Here is a superb program, impeccably recorded and featuring two fine musicians in a partnership of equals. Lucas Hopkins is a master of the saxophone, and Taiwanese pianist Er-Hsuan Li excels at every juncture.
The composer and conductor José Serebrier has previously championed Carter Pann’s music. A Naxos disc which includes Pann’s characterful Piano Concerto was reviewed by Raymond Tuttle in 23:6, to a somewhat lukewarm reception; Merlin Patterson was more welcoming of Pann’s Serenade and Concerto Logic in 33:6 (a Klavier disc). Pann’s teachers include Joseph Schwantner, William Albright, William Bolcom, and Bright Sheng. The 2016 Sonata for Alto Sax and Piano certainly begins in an appealing fashion. This is highly melodic music, and Lucas Hopkins is a seductive advocate. The music is inspired by the sax music of William Albright and by the characteristics of its dedicatee, Joseph Luloff. The first movement is titled “The Black Cat” and is a tribute to the composer’s first feline friend, and also the jazz giants Coltrane, Parker, and Rollins. The tripartite central movement consists of “Reverie,” “Soaring,” and “Consolation.” “Reverie” is certainly that, but spicy harmonies (perfectly judged by Er-Hsuan Li) elevate this from the merely pleasant. The swirling piano part of “Soaring” seems somehow Mendelssohnian, while “Consolation” is perfectly contrasting, a gentle song of soul healing. The second movement can be performed on its own as a set, and one can see just how well that would work. At around 12 minutes, it is a substantial statement. It works, though, in the context of the sonata, which altogether lasts around 25 minutes. Hopkins’s control in the final measures is massively impressive, and Li judges the supporting chords impeccably. Pann could not, I am sure, ask for more. Pann refers to “Cuppa Joe” as a “sonic onslaught” but declines to explain the title. I am reliably informed it refers to coffee (a word from the Prohibition era) and this certainly appears to be caffeinated music. Hopkins and Li ensure that the music is electric, which also emphasizes the contrast with the final Epilogue, “Lachrimosa in Memory of Joel Hastings,” a close musical friend of the composer’s. This is a remarkable way to close a piece that encloses within itself so many emotional strands. There is no attempt to bring them together, rather than merely to leave one pensive.
The performance of Pann’s sonata comes up against that by the dedicatee, Joseph Luloff, with Yu-Lien The on the Blue Griffin label (reviewed by me in Fanfare 46:6). There is no doubting Luloff’s supreme playing, and the recording has a touch more presence than at Soundset; but the programs are different (Luloff adds music by Bedenbender, Garop, and Chang), so maybe it’s just best to own both. Luloff and Hopkins both exude character, both are in fine duos, and both seem to understand Pann’s score to the nth degree.
Aris Antoniades makes his first appearance here in the Fanfare Archive. He hails from Cyprus and seems embedded in Greek musical life. His Two Childhood Portraits call on the soprano sax. The first, “Hide and Seek,” is self-explanatory in what it seeks to present in music, and the sax and piano do indeed trade themes as if one chases the other. This is encased in a slightly melancholy harmonic framework, as if emphasizing the sense of loss maturity carries with it. The sax’s song is poignant indeed in this tonally based music. Antoniades’s music flows well, and Hopkins and Li find every ounce of life in it. Li shows his capricious side here, and tempo changes are perfectly done by both. The second is a musical portrait of twilight as seen from the vantage point of youth; but perhaps it also acts as a metaphor for looking back from a twilit age? The music is highly beautiful, beyond doubt, and Hopkins and Li give their all. The recording captures the depth of Li’s tone, too. The second Antoniades piece closes the disc, and gives it its title, Nostos. The title refers to the concept of returning home, and for the composer that is Cyprus. The first movement, “A Morning in the Village,” is a pastoral idyll, and a sort of Greek Ibert sprang to mind. “Grandmother Maroulla’s Stories” is the second, a heartfelt homage to the composer’s grandmother. Reminiscence colors the mood with unfettered fondness. Li has a moment to himself here and provides a moment of flow, and also of magic, which Hopkins takes up perfectly. The piece ends with a “Ritual Dance,” full of both Greek and Balkan dance rhythms, specifically and especially “Leventkos”; the composer was a folk dancer as a teenager, and so is very close to this music. The performance is high-spirited.
Joseph Bozich is another Fanfare Archive ingenue. His Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano is fascinating. It is built on the idea of continually expanding cycles extending over the sonata. The first and last movements have endings that, in this composer’s words, “rhyme.” Uncharacteristically for the traditional idea of a sonata, the piece opens with a Scherzo, but the music is not continuously playful by any means. Rather, this is a more sophisticated take on the term. Hopkins and Li deliver the music with the utmost unity and integrity, from glowering piano tremolos to stratospheric sax ascents. The slow movement is a held space, and silence is an integral part of the music. A long cadenza is given lyricism by Hopkins; there is a warm piano riposte. The finale is really rather grungy (“vicious and relentlessly rhythmic” is how the composer describes it). The end is “victorious exhaustion” (again, the composer speaks). I do like Bozich’s combination of rigor and lyricism. The finale is indeed fast and furious, but it also displays a certain buoyancy that balances this.
This is a fine disc, well recorded, featuring spirited performances of notable works for saxophone. Colin Clarke
https://www.fanfarearchive.com/articles/atop/48_6/4860510.aa_CARTER_PANN_Alto_Saxophone.html
Review by Peter Burwasser
This is a “What’s not to like?” recording. The music, all recently composed, is lively and accessible, the performances are exceptionally sensitive and virtuosic, and the recorded sound is exemplary. The program opens with music by American composer Carter Pann, a multi-movement sonata of greatly varying moods and styles. The opening movement, entitled “This Black Cat,” is an homage to the “big cats” of jazz, in particular those of the bebop era, heard in the bubbly melody for the sax as it weaves in and out of the jaunty piano line, creating the requisite syncopated rhythms. The next “movement” is actually three short lyrical pieces grouped together as songs without words, to borrow Mendelssohn’s nomenclature, if not his spirit. Pann returns to a lively mode for “Cuppa Joe,” a delightful blast of energy, and then closes with a sultry, poetic memorial piece for a friend. A kind of playfulness also imbues the music of Aris Antoniades, a native of Cyprus. Two Childhood Portraits contrasts the energy and joy of “Hide and Seek” with the awe of “Sunset.” Nostos (which is also used as the title for the album) is a Greek word for homecoming, a common theme in Classical Greek literature, especially as referring to the return of the hero. There are three sections to the work, with a pair of lively, folk-dance-inspired pieces surrounding a sweet homage to a grandmother’s storytelling. Joseph Bozich’s brilliant Sonata contains the most abstract music on the program, although it is hardly difficult to absorb. The opening Scherzo is slyly humorous, even a bit silly (in a good way) in spots. The middle movement is called a Cadenza, and features freely flowing material for the saxophone alone, until the piano tentatively returns, leading into the raucous finale. Bozich manages the neat trick of sounding dark and yet amusing at once. Peter Burwasser
https://www.fanfarearchive.com/articles/atop/48_6/4860520.aa_CARTER_PANN_Alto_Saxophone.html
Review by Ken Meltzer
Nostos is a recital of contemporary works for saxophone and piano. The performers are Lucas Hopkins, who teaches at Austin Peay State University, Tennessee State University, and Murray State University, and is a member of The Moanin’ Frogs Saxophone Sextet; and Er-Hsuan Li, a visiting assistant professor of music at Pacific Lutheran University.
Carter Pann composed his Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano (2016) pursuant to a commission from Joe Lulloff. The composer writes that this “work was inspired by both the saxophone music of late composer William Albright and by Joe’s particular blend of finesse and brutality accompanied by an unparalleled command of the instrument.” The influence of jazz is prominent throughout the four movements—”This Black Cat,” “Three Songs Without Words,” “Cuppa Joe,” and “Epilogue: Lacrimosa in memory of Joel Hastings”—that explore both lyrical and spirited virtuoso episodes. Two works by Aris Antoniades celebrate his Cypriot-Greek background and culture. Two Childhood Portraits (2023) juxtapose a playful “Hide and Seek” with “Sunset,” which “transports listeners to the serene vistas of twilight, inspired by the breathtaking spectacle of the sun descending into the vast expanse of the Mediterranean Sea from the heights of the Ancient Settlement of Curium in Cyprus.” The CD’s title work, Antoniades’s Nostos (2018), “carries the weight of treasured memories of my homeland, reflecting the rich tapestry of Greek folk rhythms and traditions that have shaped my identity.” Nostos is in three movements. “A Morning in the Village” evokes the zeimbekiko, at lively Cypriot dance. A tender lullaby, “Grandmother Maroulla’s Stories,” is a tribute to the composer’s great-grandmother. “Ritual Dance (Levintikos)” provides the energetic close. All of the mentioned works are both programmatic in nature and composed in an accessible idiom. The remaining piece, Joseph Bozich’s Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano (2014), is both abstract (or, if you prefer “absolute music”), and more harmonically rigorous. The work’s three movements are thematically intertwined, with “the first and last movements ‘rhyming’ in their ending.” Two virtuoso outer movements, Scherzo and Finale, with brilliant, jazzy passagework and a celebration of the alto saxophone’s epic pitch span, frame a haunting “Cadenza.”
The artists play the various compositions with arresting energy, precision, and a warm embrace of the music’s jazz and dance roots. Lucas Hopkins offers a vibrant, attractive tone, rich and secure throughout the registers. His breath control and dexterity are immensely satisfying. Er-Hsuan Li is a sensitive and compelling partner. The booklet includes bios of the artists and composers, as well as program notes by the latter. All told, this is a fine recital of repertoire well worth hearing; recommended. Ken Meltzer
https://www.fanfarearchive.com/articles/atop/48_6/4860505.aa_CARTER_PANN_Alto_Saxophone.html
Review by Mark Gabrish Conlan
The saxophone has had a schizoid personality ever since Belgian-turned-French musician and instrument maker Adolphe Sax invented it in the early 1840s. Though a handful of French and Russian composers occasionally used it (most notably for the theme of “The Old Castle” movement in Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition), it has remained at best a stepchild in the history of classical music. On the other hand, it became a staple of marching bands and, beginning in the 1920s with Coleman Hawkins, Sidney Bechet, Frank Trumbauer, Bud Freeman, and Jimmy Dorsey, it evolved into a virtually indispensable instrument in the jazz world. Since then most of the serious sax players have been jazz musicians, including Lester Young, Benny Carter, Leon “Chu” Berry, Henry “Buster” Smith, and Ben Webster in the 1930s; Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Lee Konitz, and Wardell Gray in the 1940s; and Theodore “Sonny” Rollins, John Coltrane, Paul Desmond, Ornette Coleman, and Albert Ayler in the 1950s and 1960s.
While these and many other musicians were extending the horizons of jazz sax, classical saxophonists remained stuck in the styles of pioneers like Sigurd Rascher and Marcel Mulé. The dilemma facing would-be classical saxophonists was ably summed up by Alec Wilder in a 1950s children’s album designed to introduce kids to the various sounds of orchestral instruments. The album consisted of doggerel songs about each one followed by typically sly, witty nonvocal Wilder pieces showcasing every instrument. One of the songs was called “Max the Saxophone,” and its lyric ended, “I’m Max the saxophone / But I wish you’d give me the chance / To play for you in a concert hall / Instead of at a dance.” What makes this CD, Nostos (defined by Cypriot composer Aris Antoniades as “the essence of returning home,” though Google Translate didn’t give an English equivalent), remarkable and well worth hearing is its largely successful attempt to bridge the two halves of the saxophone’s history: the heights it has reached as a jazz instrument, and its comparative neglect in the classical field.
It helps that Lucas Hopkins has played saxophone professionally in both classical and jazz contexts. He teaches saxophone at three universities—Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN; Tennessee State University; and Murray State University in Murray, KY. Hopkins has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Oakland Symphony and presented guest recitals and masterclasses at various colleges. Though he plays alto sax throughout this album, he also has professional jazz experience as a bass saxophonist for a group called the Moanin’ Frogs Saxophone Sextet. (The bass saxophone is such a notoriously difficult instrument that jazz tenor sax giant Coleman Hawkins bought one in 1927—and returned it a week later.) He’s accompanied here—though the piano parts here are so elaborate it’s more a true collaboration than a soloist and accompanist—by Taiwan-born pianist Er-Hsuan Li.
It also helps that at least two of the three living composers represented here, Carter Pann and Aris Antoniades, have had both classical and jazz experience. The first movement of Pann’s Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, “This Black Cat,” refers not only to a real-life black cat that was his first feline pet but also, as he acknowledges in the program notes, “some of the stylings of the great mid-century jazz cats like Coltrane, Parker, and Rollins.” As for Antoniades, according to the program notes, he “creates works for everything from symphony orchestras to jazz big bands.” He’s also worked with a number of Greek pop singers, and since 2021 he’s been artistic director and conductor of the TrakArt Pops Orchestra in his native Cyprus.
The pieces on the album are two works formally labeled “Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano” by Carter Pann (b. 1972) and Joseph Bozich (b. 1986), along with two more impressionistic works by Aris Antoniades (b. 1991). The Pann Sonata was commissioned in 2016 in memory of Canadian pianist Joel Hastings and was originally performed by its dedicatee, Joseph Lulloff. His recording is available as a digital download from Blue Griffin Music and, like Hopkins’s, also features a pianist of Asian heritage (though she, Yu-Lien The, was actually born in The Netherlands). Though Pann praises Lulloff’s “particular blend of finesse and brutality” and says he wrote the piece with Lulloff in mind, Hopkins’s rendition struck me as even better: wilder, freer, more jazzy. Especially in Hopkins’s version, the fifth movement, “Cuppa Joe,” sounds in its opening remarkably like the famous glissando Ross Gorman improvised during rehearsals for the first performance of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. (Gershwin had written just a scalar progression of 17 notes, but after he heard Gorman’s version he rewrote the score to require the glissando.)
The Pann sonata is officially in four movements, but it’s actually in six. The second movement, “Three Songs Without Words,” is itself subdivided into three sections, “Reverie,” “Soaring,” and “Consolation,” and Pann comments in the booklet notes that the “Three Songs Without Words” can be lifted from the sonata and played on their own as a stand-alone work. As for Bozich, he writes in the booklet, “It’s a bit loaded to call any piece a ‘Sonata’ in the 21st century. We live in an era of stories, images, ideas; a composition that seeks to reference only itself can seem at best old-fashioned and at worst reactionary. And yet part of the magic of music is to create effective drama, pathos, and ‘images’ without concrete association, tones not representing ideas but as the ideas themselves.” The Bozich sonata is conventionally structured in three movements, a fast “Scherzo,” a slow “Cadenza,” and a fast “Finale,” and towards the end of the “Finale” the sax and piano are voiced so closely together that at first I thought Hopkins had dubbed in a tenor sax over his alto (he hadn’t).
Antonaides’s two pieces are more programmatic in the 21st-century norm. The first is called Two Childhood Portraits (2023) and is in two movements, “Hide and Seek” and “Sunset.” Surprisingly, the faster movement is first and the slower, more reflective one is second. Nostos is also a work that draws on Antonaides’s memories of growing up on Cyprus, and like the Bozich sonata is in a typical fast-slow-fast three-movement form. But all three of the movements have descriptive titles: “A Morning in the Village,” “Grandmother Maroulla’s Stories,” and “Ritual Dance (‘Leventikos’).” In the booklet, Antonaides calls Nostos “an offering from the heart, weaving together the threads of emotion and tradition, aiming to impart a universal sense of connection and a shared celebration of the human experience of homecoming.”
Lucas Hopkins and Er-Hsuan Li both play these pieces—subtly different from each other but close enough in style that they work together as a program—magnificently, with a rare unanimity of feeling and touch. The recording is also excellent, though in a few sections (notably the final movement of Nostos) the mikes get a little too close to Hopkins and we hear a lot of the mechanical noises a saxophone makes when it’s being played. I especially like Hopkins’s use of overblowing, harmonics, and other basic techniques common to jazz saxists but rarely heard in classical saxophone music. Nostos is a quite remarkable album that belongs in the collections of both classical and jazz saxophone lovers, and a welcome blending together of the two traditions of the instrument. Mark Gabrish Conlan
https://www.fanfarearchive.com/articles/atop/48_6/4860530.aa_CARTER_PANN_Alto_Saxophone.html
Review by Kieth R. Fisher
Saxophone lovers rejoice! This is, for the most part, a delightful disc containing several attractive, recent (and, for the most part, not gnarly) compositions for saxophone and piano that enriches this somewhat obscure corner of the repertoire.
The only one of these composers with whom I was previously familiar is Carter Pann. An alumnus of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan, Pann studied with several composers familiar to Fanfare readers, including Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwantner, William Albright, and William Bolcom. Pann’s music has received predominantly mediocre notices in these pages, and I’m saddened to have to add yet another. There is simply nothing memorable about his saxophone sonata. Fortunately, the remaining music on this disc is more interesting. The Bozich saxophone sonata sustains the listener’s interest over nearly 20 minutes of performance time without appearing to adhere to any identifiable compositional “style.” It passed my litmus test: After first hearing, I wanted to hear it again.
But the real find here is the music of Cypriot composer Aris Antoniades. The fond reminiscence of his Two Childhood Portraits is touchingly captured by soprano saxophone and piano. The title work, Nostos, is redolent of the folk music of Greece, and reminds me of similar essays in that vein by the Greek composer Yannis Constantinidis (1903–1984). The work’s title, as it turns out, aptly captures the sense of a word I couldn’t find in my Oxford Dictionary of Modern Greek but was able to locate in my Liddel and Scott Greek-English Lexicon—νόστος (nostos), meaning “homecoming” or “return,” much like that of Homer’s Odysseus. This is delightful, heartfelt music, skillfully employing the timbral characteristics of the saxophone. Recommended. Keith R. Fisher
https://www.fanfarearchive.com/articles/atop/48_6/4860540.aa_CARTER_PANN_Alto_Saxophone.html
Nostos Rocks!: An Interview with Saxophonist Lucas Hopkins and Pianist Er-Hsuan Li
Interview by Hana Gubenko
Lucas and Er-Hsuan, welcome to Fanfare! Before hitting the play button, I expected the usual sounds of contemporary music, but then This Black Cat made me wonder. In a word, your album rocks! This is the best contemporary music album I’ve heard in the last decade—congratulations! It’s a marvelous combination of jazz and classical music, with amazing playing. The cover is beautiful too, and the quality of the recording is excellent. Ten stars, and it is definitely on my Want List. How did you manage to get it done?
Lucas Hopkins: Thank you so much; I’m glad you enjoyed it! It was a long process, and the project spanned multiple years. It was truly a collaborative effort, not just between Er-Hsuan and me, but also in working with each composer as well as our wonderful recording and editing engineer, Kevin Harbison.
We spaced out the recording process over five sessions between 2020 and 2023; that way we could really focus on fine-tuning one work at a time and receive detailed feedback from each composer so as best to represent their visions for these works. We started these recording sessions when we were both doctoral students at the University of Colorado, and finished up the recording sessions after I graduated and was living and working in Tennessee. Luckily, I was also hired to teach at the University of Colorado in an interim position, so I was regularly flying back to Colorado most weeks to teach. And Er-Hsuan and I were also able to rehearse together regularly.
How long did it take you to collect all the works?
LH: Each of these works is special to us in various ways. The project started when a friend of Er-Hsuan’s from his undergraduate years at Manhattan School of Music, Aris Antoniades, reached out about the possibility of recording a work of his for saxophone and piano. This piece was Nostos. After talking between the three of us, we quickly decided to turn the project into an entire album. We would record Nostos, and Aris also offered to write us a brand-new piece to record for the album, Two Childhood Portraits. This piece was the last to record, as it wasn’t completed until 2023. Now we just had to decide what else to record. Given that we were at the University of Colorado, we found it fitting to record the Carter Pann Sonata, as Carter is on the composition faculty there. We had also previously played this work together and worked on it with Carter. We also chose the Bozich Sonata because it is a work that I premiered as a graduate student at the University of Michigan in 2016. When I first played this piece, I knew it was a work that I wanted to record on an album someday. I thought it deserved to be heard as a masterfully composed and very difficult piece.
Were these works written especially for your ensemble?
Er-Hsuan Li: Technically, only Two Childhood Portraits was written for us. Although Lucas previously played the Bozich Sonata, Joe decided to modify some passages of the piece after listening to our rehearsals. Therefore, the album recording in fact was the premiere of this new version.
How would you describe the style of this album? It seems to me sometimes jazzy, sometimes neo-Impressionistic. Could we still call it classical music, though? I could swear I heard a hint of Mozart in the Three Songs by Carter Pann, where he almost seems to write a Lacrimosa—am I right? He loves Mozart, doesn’t he?
LH: There is a lot of variety in this album, for sure. Although it is not classical music in the sense that it is from the Classical period, I would put it under the broad umbrella of classical music, I guess modern classical. These are all sonatas, or sonata-like pieces, after all. Although this is contemporary music, there are certainly many contemporary pieces out there that sound much more avant-garde than this. I feel that this album is very accessible and tonal.
As saxophonists, we often group our music or players into two categories: jazz and classical. Each of these categories can include so many different styles of music. This album would fall under the classical saxophone category, though.
EHL: What a wonderful question. Similar to Lucas’s idea, I view “classical music” as an umbrella term that includes all music rooted and developed from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, such as music by Josquin des Prez or J. S. Bach. Therefore, classical music is still constantly developing every day in endless directions. If I must use a term to describe the music collected in the album, I think I will use the term “contemporary classical music.”
When we were collecting the pieces for the album, we knew we wanted to collect compositions written within the last decade by living composers. However, we also wanted to make the musical styles of this album as versatile as possible, demonstrating the possibilities of the tonal palette in contemporary classical music. As you noticed, there are certainly many moments in the pieces that recall the traditional definition of classical music, perhaps by direct quotations, formal structures, tonal harmonies, etc. I believe Carter loves Mozart indeed, but also Chopin, and many other great composers that are influential in classical music history.
I recall one time at his office in Colorado, while waiting for other musicians to arrive, he suddenly started playing the first few notes of the Chopin Fantaisie and asked if I knew what the piece was. To me, it was interesting not only to see how he could just play Chopin at any moment, but also the fact that Chopin was the first thing came to his mind. This was a very fun memory I had with him.
Lucas, I never heard such beautiful sax playing; you literally sing that Lacrimosa. How do you do it, what’s your secret?
LH: Thank you! Well, I guess as with all advanced players, many years of practice and intense study, focusing on ways to improve tone, technique, and musicality. I tried to vary my sound and character through manipulating timbre, and being conscious about vibrato use to get varying results appropriate for different movements or sections of pieces.
A brass instrument can be challenging at times, but you manage never to sound boring. You have such a multifaceted art of playing—would you share your musical odyssey? Where did it start, and how did you achieve that unique attitude?
LH: I feel I’ve had a lot of different experiences throughout my training and professional career that have helped to shape my identity as an artist. I particularly enjoy playing a variety of styles of music, and playing music that is accessible and pleasurable to listen to.
In terms of my musical journey, I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, studying with the classical saxophone legend Eugene Rousseau. I think he really instilled in me the importance of playing music that has the potential to resonate with a wide audience. Next, I did a master’s degree at Northwestern University and a specialist degree at the University of Michigan, studying with Timothy McAllister at both schools, who is one of the foremost classical saxophonists of this generation. With McAllister I really refined my playing, focusing on minute details, and also gained an increased appreciation for contemporary music. At Michigan I also studied jazz with Andrew Bishop. For my doctoral degree I chose the University of Colorado and studied with Tom Myer. Given my intense classical saxophone focus over the years, I really wanted to go somewhere where I could focus more on jazz, but I was not ready for a doctorate in jazz. Although Tom wasn’t officially the “jazz saxophone” faculty member at U. of Colorado, jazz was certainly his primary interest, and most of my lessons with him were jazz lessons, though I still regularly played classical saxophone and programmed a lot of that on my recitals.
Although the majority of my training has been as a classical saxophonist, I have also made it a priority to study and perform jazz. So, as I mentioned, I really enjoy playing a variety of music. During my graduate degrees I could even regularly be seen busking and did very well with that. I would play some jazz, but also smooth jazz, and popular music or top 40. Another significant part of my musical career that perfectly fits with who I am as an artist is playing in The Moanin’ Frogs Saxophone Sextet, with which I have been the bass saxophonist since 2014. We regularly tour, playing concert series and doing educational outreach. We play a variety of music, from classical masterworks to jazz, ragtime, popular music, and more.
Currently I teach saxophone at Austin Peay State University as well as doing some teaching at Tennessee State University and Murray State University.
So in summary, all of my training and experiences in classical and contemporary music, as well as jazz, have shaped who I am as an artist, both in terms of my interests and my playing style and abilities.
Er-Hsuan, I’m absolutely amazed by your playing as well. Your sensitivity, and your ability to give a stable basis to the ensemble without dominating over your partner, this is a unique quality for a pianist; yet on the other hand you never tend to become a mere “accompanist.” You manage to maintain your independence all through the album. How do you balance it so well?
EHL: As a pianist, I have the luxury of playing multiple notes at one time. And oftentimes I think of my piano part as layers of different textures. Thanks to the large number of concerto reductions I have played, I am usually able to see and hear each layer as an independent instrumental or vocal line, each with its own personality and timbre. Therefore, when playing with another musician, I am not only thinking of how to balance the piano with their instrument, but also of how to balance a chamber ensemble or orchestra instead. This allows my piano playing to be fully blended into the saxophone timbre, yet simultaneously maintain an overall good balance of different layers.
From third grade to the end of high school, I was also a violinist. My violin abilities were never as polished as my piano abilities, but I did have some years of experience playing in string quartets, orchestras, and as a soloist working with different pianists. I believe these experiences really helped me to approach and hear music from various perspectives, and thus when appropriate to “conduct” and lead music instead of following.
I also never believe in the term “accompanist.” When working with another wonderful musician such as Lucas, part of the excitement is for us to challenge each other to listen and match each other’s musical intentions without communication in words. These collisions that happen in performances or recording sessions really make music alive and are inspirational to musicians as creators.
Could you describe your professional path? Where, when, and how did you start your musical odyssey? When and how did you meet Lucas, and how did both of you conceive the idea for Nostos and bring the listener back home to enjoy music?
EHL: I started playing the piano at the age of five in Taiwan, where I grew up. At the age of 18, I had the pleasure to pursue professional music studies and a career in the U.S., earning multiple degrees in piano performance from three different institutions.
Although I am always intrigued by contemporary music, one specific event especially triggered my strong interest and passion toward it. When I was in New York City at the age of 19, I was approached by Aris Antoniades, who is a friend of mine and of course one of the composers on this album, to discuss a possibility of premiering his solo piano work Cornus. The experience of working with Aris directly on his compositional process was extremely fulfilling to me. I was so excited to have the ability to make new music come alive, and to create performance practice rather than following it. Eventually, working with composers and premiering new works became addictive to me and has become a large part of my identity as a musician. As of now, I have premiered 24 new works that range from piano solo and chamber music to ensemble works.
I first met Lucas in 2018, when we both were starting the doctoral degree at the University of Colorado. Prior to pursuing a degree in Colorado, I already was regularly playing for saxophonists in the Chicago area. And when my saxophonist friends knew I was moving to Boulder, they all told me about Lucas and that I should try to collaborate with him. I then played for all concerts and events that Lucas did in Colorado, and later on also in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Eventually, after performing Carter Pann’s Sonata a few times and having conversations with Aris on recording his Nostos, we decided to make this a full album project.
How many times did you perform this program before going to the studio?
LH: We had played most of this music in various recitals before recording. We played the Carter Pann Sonata together in both of our DMA recitals, and we played Nostos in one of my DMA recitals. We also played the Bozich Sonata on one of my faculty recitals at Austin Peay State University. As for Two Childhood Portraits, we premiered the work at Colorado State University for the Rocky Mountain Saxophone Summit and played it at the North American Saxophone Alliance national conference in Oklahoma.
Two Childhood Portraits by Aris Antoniades awakens a melancholic mood. Would you share the most beautiful childhood memories?
LH: With the first movement being titled “Hide and Seek,” it makes me think of the games we used to play as children. All the kids in the neighborhood would get together in the evening over the summers for games such as hide and seek, capture the flag, or kick the can.
EHL: I will share two of my most memorable childhood memories. After school, my father would sometimes take me and my two siblings on a short hike to learn about nature and to dip our feet into a creek. We would try skipping stones at times as well.
Also, when I was learning to play Taiwanese folk songs transcribed by Ma Shui-Long on the piano, my grandfather, who is a quiet man, would often sing along with my playing, which is a really special memory for me. He unfortunately passed away three years ago.
Have you thought of it while playing that piece?
LH: It might have crossed my mind, but I can’t say I was really thinking about it while working on this music. Rather, I was just trying to bring out the playful character of some sections and the melancholic character of other sections, especially the second movement.
EHL: I do not necessarily think of the exact memories while playing the piece, but I do use these memories to help craft the playful character in the first movement and the melancholy approach in the second movement.
“Hide and Seek” has a strong Neoclassical touch, hasn’t it?
LH: Yes, I think so, in terms of form and compositional techniques. There is a fugue section and it is tonal, but with some complex and rich harmonies.
EHL: Adding to Lucas’s response, I know Aris is a composer who really admires the traditional form and technique of early classical music. Incorporating the usage of fugue is not a surprise from Aris.
Sometimes it reminded me of Libertango by Piazzolla. Have you ever combined pieces from the Nostos album with any piece by Astor Piazzolla? Would you consider doing it? I guess an album with tango would be another highlight with both of you.
LH: We haven’t, but I have been thinking about Piazzolla lately and am interested in programming some of his works at some point.
EHL: We have not thought of this possibility, but what a wonderful idea! Piazzola’s music is well loved by a wide range of audiences. Pairing pieces from the Nostos album with Piazzola’s music would be a highlight for many concert series and venues!
“The Sunset” could be a soundtrack to a fairy-tale movie, couldn’t it? If it were so, which one would that be?
EHL: It certainly could be a soundtrack to a fairy-tale movie! However, as a creator, I would rather not think of which movie this would be, but rather create our own movie that would express our musical story. To me, I see the movement start with a sweet dream recalling some old memories. After moments of returning to reality, we go on an adventure through forest and water to learn and face the deepest desire in our mind. And the movie finishes with a peaceful but profound sunset, visually and spiritually. It is a journey of a fantasy.
Could you say a few words about Joseph Bozich’s sonata?
LH: I think the Bozich Sonata is the most contemporary-sounding work on the album, but I also think it is relatively accessible as far as contemporary music goes. It is extremely challenging for both the saxophone and piano—technically, rhythmically, and in terms of ensemble, and it certainly makes use of some extreme ranges. It uses recurring motives, has many different sections and characters, and I think makes a great addition to the contemporary saxophone repertoire. I don’t think this piece was written with a specific image in mind, which is evident with some of the other works on the album with their descriptive titles, but rather was written to create a substantial abstract work for saxophone and piano.
The title piece, Nostos, has quite a bit of folklore. Is there any specific relation to folklore, or is it instead a fantasy piece?
LH: The word Nostos denotes a theme from ancient Greek literature that has to do with a heroic homecoming by sea, and the composer of this work sought to capture that essence of returning home when composing this work. Aris grew up in Cyprus, and this piece reflects on memories of his homeland and the rich tapestry of Greek folk rhythms and traditions that have shaped his identity. Each movement is a reflection of specific memories tied to his roots.
The first movement celebrates his Cypriot heritage, with influences from Cypriot dance and culture. The second movement is a lullaby that pays homage to his beloved great-grandmother, Maroulla. The third movement uses Greek and Balkan folk dance rhythms and captures his memories as an avid folk dancer as a teenager.
Lucas, did you change the instrument for that piece, or are you using a particular technique which makes it sound like a folk instrument?
LH: Yes, for the second movement of Nostos I am playing soprano saxophone, while the other movements are on alto saxophone. Two Childhood Portraits is also on soprano saxophone, and all the other tracks on the album are on alto saxophone. But yes, the soprano instrument has a different timbre to it and can sound more folk-like, which makes sense of why Aris chose to use it.
Are you both familiar with Grandmother Maroulla?
EHL: We have only heard from Aris about how fond he was of his grandmother Maroulla, and know she holds a special place in his heart.
Er-Hsuan plays it with such tenderness, as if he were telling a fairy tale. Er-Hsuan, how is it possible to make the piano, which is quite percussive by nature, speak so tenderly?
EHL: There was a lot of work I had to put in over the years to achieve the tender quality on the piano, as opposed to its percussive nature. Without getting too technical here, some of this magic is accomplished by the slow and steady speed of attack, the way we sink the weight into the keys, and the lengths of notes relating to articulation. And since it’s not realistically possible completely to avoid the percussive nature, a lot of refined and sophisticated executions need to be in place to create illustrations for human perceptions.
The “Ritual Dance” is ecstatic, a marvelous encore, isn’t it?
LH: It is exciting and fun, and we thought it would be a nice closer to the album.
EHL: Yes, it is a celebration!
What is your next project together?
LH: Although we don’t live near each other anymore, we plan to keep playing together when possible. There has been talk with Aris, who has expressed interest in helping to set up a tour in Europe, by way of his local contacts and possible grant money. We also hope to continue to play recitals together, such as faculty recitals, guest artist recitals at various universities, and performing at conferences together.
EHL: We hope to tour with the album repertoire in the U.S. and Europe. We would love to introduce this wonderful music to our professional peers as well as the public.
I can’t wait to hear more, and I hope you get a Grammy for the Nostos album.
LH: Thank you! That would certainly be something. We just really want to get this music out there and heard by more people. These are some fantastic new additions to the saxophone’s repertoire and we hope more people consider programming these works in the future as a result of this album.
EHL: We hope that one day the music included on the Nostos album will become widely known, so that we could be proud of our contributions to our field through this project. I hope we get a spot for a Grammy as well. And thank you for this wonderful interview!
Nostos is available by streaming from Spotify and Apple Music.
https://www.fanfarearchive.com/articles/atop/48_6/4860500.aa_Nostos_Rocks_Interview_Saxophonist.html
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