For students involved in music lessons on the Gustavus campus, concert attendance is a vital part of understanding, gaining new insight, and appreciating music on a deeper level.

Each semester, there are around five or six concerts that feature Gustavus faculty members from the music department held on-campus for students, staff, and the Gustavus community to attend. Some of these recitals or concerts are larger collaborative events with multiple music professors performing together, while others are solo faculty recitals.

Adjunct Instructor of Saxophone, Combo, and World Music, Donnie Norton will be performing a solo faculty recital with accompanist Esther Wang, for the Gustavus community early next week.

The recital will take place on at 7:30pm on Monday, Oct. 17 in the Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall. All music students, as well as non-music students who are interested in saxophone music, are encouraged to attend.

Norton has taught saxophone, jazz bands, and jazz combos at multiple colleges, universities, and high schools across the country, and has been teaching at Gustavus since fall 2015. He has also performed in ensembles, and has played saxophone on tour.

For his recital, Norton will be playing both a well-known saxophone standard as well as two unique pieces.

These pieces include: Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano by Bernhard Heiden, Picnic on the Marne by Ned Rorem, and Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano by William Albright.

Norton has been preparing for the recital for around four months, and has been challenged by the selections he has chosen to perform.

“Some of the music I am playing is pretty difficult and has required me to significantly improve and expand my technique as a classical saxophonist,” Norton said.

Associate Professor of Piano Esther Wang has been working with Norton since mid-September as his accompanist for the recital. She has had a fantastic time working with him, and is excited for the pieces that they will be performing.

“I like all of the works. Each has twinges of jazz in it, although it may not be so obvious in all of them.” Wang said.

Wang also provided a preview of what audience members can expect from the pieces on the program.

“The Heiden sonata is a standard piece for a serious sax player. The really unique piece is the Albright Sonata. We will talk about all the pieces so the audiences can know what to listen for, but the Albright is particularly unusual. Albright was a quirky and enigmatic composer. You can definitely hear that in this piece. The slow movement is gorgeous,” Wang said.

Norton also provided a brief preview of Picnic on the Marne by Ned Rorem.

“It is a programmatic piece in seven movements that portrays the events of a day trip to the suburbs of Paris,” Norton said.

The Gustavus Fine Arts Department finds it important to feature the talents of faculty members in on-campus recitals.

These performances allow students to be able to hear their professors play in a more professional setting.

They also let faculty members incorporate techniques that they use for teaching, and show students how they can implement those techniques into their playing.

Many of these professors have had a great deal of experience performing on stages around the world. These individuals are extremely talented, and are skilled in multiple musical styles as well.

“All members of the Gustavus community should attend concerts and recitals. Attending events in the arts is an integral piece of a liberal arts education. Increasing the breadth of their education is why students at Gustavus chose this place,” Director of Fine Arts Al Behrends said.