About The Piece...

Vexation (1999) is a free dialogue between a alto saxophone and a cello. At times they agree, at other times they disagree. And at times they listen attentively to what the other has to say before signaling their approval or disapproval. Neither instrument has more to say than he other. However, the saxophone does have the first and final word. The main thematic idea of Vexation is based on a three-note motive: A-flat, G, E-flat. The interval content, particularly the outer P4, will become important in the formation of other motives and pitch material. Many motives found in the piece are bound by a P4 and contain internal intervals similar to the main motive, namely seconds and thirds. Other prominent material comes from two other sources. The first comes from a synthetic scale built on a succession of intervals, each interval being one half-step larger than the previous interval:  m2 – M2 – m3 – M3 – etc. The other source comes from a chromatic scale. Another source of pitch material comes from the combination of these two scales: the first half of this third scale may be based on intervals increasing, or decreasing, in size while the second half of the scale may be chromatic. For instance : E – G – A – B-flat – D-flat – D – E-flat – E.

Click to hear a brief excerpt of Aaron Johnson's Vexation  Xš

About The Composer...

Aaron Johnson (b.1970) has received many honors for his music including awards from ASCAP, Southeastern Composers League, College Music Society, and Missouri Music Teachers Association. He has been commissioned to write works for chamber orchestra and string orchestra. Most recently he was commissioned by the University of North Carolina at Asheville to write a set of twelve-tone piano pieces to be used as pedagogical tools in their music theory curriculum. Johnson's music has been performed extensively in the United States as well as in Bulgaria, Greece, Costa Rica, and the United Kingdom. He has served as adjunct instructor of composition at Louisiana State University where he also graduated with his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in May of 2004. He received his Bachelor and Master's degrees from Truman State University. His primary composition teachers have included Dinos Constantinides, Warren Gooch, Stephen David Beck, and Paul Siskind.

About The Performers...

Theofilos Sotiriades, saxophonist, was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1969. He graduated with a degree in Psychology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.  Meanwhile, he studied saxophone ast the State Conservatoire of Thessaloniki and graduated with a degree with distinction. As a scholar of the Foundation of the Greek State Scholarships, he studied at the “Conservatoire National de Region de Creteil” in Paris in the class of M. Georges Porte and received a diploma with distinction with a special prize for the interpretation of 20th century music. He has presented concerts in Greece, Cyprus, Great Britain, Germany, Ukraine, and France and has participated in the Quintette of Saxophones of Paris as a soloist. He has also performed with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki and with the Big Band of the Greek Radio and Television. He has won prizes in the European Music Contests of “Picardie” and “Leopold Bellan.” Sotiriades is the artistic director of the Macedonian Saxophone Quartet and a founding member of the Guitarphone of Adolf Sax.  He has also collaborated with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki and the UNESCO Chair of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki about music issues. Sotiriades is the artistic director of the Hellenic Festival of Saxophone in Kilkis, Greece. http://www.sotiriades.com
 

David LeDoux In addition to the Louisiana Sinfonietta, David LeDoux plays with the Baton Rouge Symphony, Gulf Port Symphony, and the Acadiana Symphony. He studied at the University of Southern California and is continuing studies at Louisiana State University. From Tulsa, Oklahoma, he has appeared with several orchestras of the region as competition winner. Mr LeDoux has also participated in several chamber music and orchestra summer festivals on both coasts.