PAST EVENT

The Cape Cod Sax Quartet

Outstanding Cape musicians play classical, jazz and popular music for this unusual ensemble.
February 27th, 2016​
​
Time: 7:30 pm

​Location:
Sandwich Town Hall
130 Main St.
Sandwich, MA

Tickets: $20 for adults/$10 for students 
 
Available online below or at Splash Stationers
About the Cape Cod Sax Quartet
​The third concert of the Village Concert Series will feature the Cape Cod Sax Quartet, well-known throughout the Cape, making their first concert appearance in Sandwich. Founded in 2014, the quartet consists of four of Cape Cod's most well-known saxophonists: Berke McKelvey, Bruce Abbott, Ryder Corey, and Nicholas Suchecki, merging seasoned professionals with rising talents.
 
The saxophone is a relatively recent concert instrument, invented in 1840 by the Belgian musician Adolphe Sax. Although originally conceived as an orchestral instrument, the saxophone became popular first through the medium of military bands, and then jazz, and was only slowly and reluctantly accepted into the orchestra.  
 
With the instrument’s very vocal and expressive qualities and extensive range, it wasn’t long before composers began to write quartets for the soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. Now saxophone quartets are one of the most popular ensembles of like instruments, perhaps second only to the string quartet. But if you haven’t yet heard this rich, colorful and unique sonority, you are in for a treat.
 
Members of The Cape Cod Sax Quartet incorporate their very diverse experiences into their music, playing pop, ragtime, classical, traditional, and jazz works.  This concert will offer a program of transcriptions of classical works, arrangements of jazz standards, and even a “Beatles Medley”. In addition, the members will share information about the history of their instruments and demonstrate each of the four “flavors” of saxophones.
 
The members of the Cape Cod Sax Quartet perform frequently throughout Cape Cod, Boston, and New England.  They have performed with Cape-based artists such as Steve Morgan and the Kingfish, Chandler Travis, the Paul Weller Big Band, Stage Door Canteen, Funktapuss, and the Cape Cod Jazz Quintet.  They have also played with internationally renowned artists such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Chris Botti, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the Artie Shaw Orchestra.
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Cape Cod Sax Quartet members Berke McKelvey, Bruce Abbott, Ryder Corey, and Nicholas Suchecki
Enjoy a few Cape Cod Sax Quartet audio clips:
See The Cape Cod Sax Quartet performing live:
​Meet the members of the ensemble 
Nicholas Suchecki, the quartet’s founder, is a Nauset Regional High School graduate and  currently studies at Berklee College of Music. As a saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, and bassist, Nicholas has played and recorded with many musicians and bands of varying styles, Nicholas is also Concert Director for Wellfleet Recreation’s Music at Mayo summer concert series.
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Bruce Abbott, as a teacher, saxophonist, and flutist, has taught at Nauset Regional High School, Salve Regina University and the University of Rhode Island.  He has played with jazz combos and classical ensembles and orchestras in concerts and clubs throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, including the Rhode Island Saxophone Quartet and the Cape Symphony.  He has been part of over fifty recording projects – his most recent recording is River Waves, an album of music for Native American flute. Bruce teaches private music lessons in his Brewster studio on Cape Cod.
Berke McKelvey has earned degrees in music from Principia College, Berklee College of Music, and University of California, San Diego.  He has recordings on RCA, Warner/Reprise, Buena Vista, and numerous independent labels.  Berke has appeared with the Boston Pops Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, St. Louis Symphony and Boston Opera Orchestra. He is also an active theater musician, and teaches privately and at the  Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Ryder Corey, a Falmouth High School graduate, is currently a music performance and music education major at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He has been the lead alto saxophonist and guest soloist in big bands and other ensembles there.
Download concert schedule here.