Alexandra Gardner | Building Noises

Happy 2010 everyone!! To start off the New Year in good and proper Tom Sawyer fashion, I would like to introduce you to the musicians who will be playing in my fast-approaching February 3rd Mobtown Modern concert. Every 4-5 days a new “Performer Interview” will be posted. They have all been asked to answer the same set of questions, and I absolutely love what they are writing!! Enjoy, and check back often!

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Saxophonist Brian Sacawa has been called many things – most of them good – including “an inventive musician” (The New York Times), “inspired” (Washington Post), and “brilliant” (Baltimore Sun). He is the Co-Founder and Lead Curator of the Contemporary Museum’s Mobtown Modern music series, performs in the genre-bending duo Hybrid Groove Project with composer/turntablist Erik Spangler (aka DJ Dubble8), and is author of the blog Sounds Like Now. Brian lives in Baltimore, MD with his wife, music journalist Molly Sheridan.

How did you get started playing your instrument, and how did it turn into a career?

I started playing the saxophone in fourth grade because one of my friends was taking private lessons and I thought he was really cool. As soon as I took up the instrument, I kind of always knew that that was what I wanted to do. It made that portion of high school, where everyone is figuring out what they want to do in college, a little anticlimactic because I always knew what I wanted to do.

Talk about one of your most satisfying musical performance experiences.

While I was at the University of Michigan, I got the opportunity to perform Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances” with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic – that’s the St. Petersburg in Russia – with Yuri Temirkanov conducting. The concert was at the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. I drove down from Ann Arbor and had a rehearsal with the orchestra the day of the performance. I was warned before the concert that the orchestra played at A=446 and the clarinetist I sat next motioned to me – he didn’t speak English – to push my mouthpiece in. I had already done so and practicing at that pitch actually made my ears hurt the day before. Anyhow, the rehearsal went fantastic, as did the concert. Temirkanov even gave me a solo bow. The most memorable part of the performance was when the principal flutist joined me in the solo. I have never felt a musical connection with another player like that before. And we’d only had one rehearsal. She came up to me after the performance and was extremely complimentary and gracious. I wish I could have continued the tour with them. I’ll never forget that performance.

What gets you interested in/inspired by/excited about playing a new piece of music?

This has changed over time. These days, I’m most interested in playing music by composers who have a unique and “honest” voice. Mostly, I like music that communicates to people and try to work with composers who share that feeling.

What is your listening “guilty pleasure?”

Ummm, I actually downloaded “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus. OMG, I totally can’t believe I admitted that. Smiley face.

What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?

Mobtown Modern continues to be my big project. The Contemporary Museum has been a great partner in this venture and has pretty much given me free reign to craft its musical voice. I’m really excited about what we’ve got lined up for the fourth season.

Also, I’ve begun working with the software Ableton Live and have a few Live-based projects lined up with a few people. That’s also very exciting.

Please answer: If I were not a musician, I would be a ________, because _________.

If I were not a musician, I would be a bicycle racer because, like music, there’s no finite endpoint – it’s all about the journey.