Now that we have returned to our homes, it is so nice to look back on our California tour with fond memories. This was our first time presenting masterclasses and clinics as a quartet, and each one was extremely successful! We were thoroughly impressed by the students, who all seemed to be excited about music and full of great, meaningful questions about saxophone and music in general. It was a great feeling to be able to share our story with so many aspiring musicians. We hope that they, too, will follow their musical dreams and maximize their potential as musicians and entrepreneurs.

We had an incredible time performing as well. We gave the world premiere of our recently commissioned work, In Memoriam, by Joel Love. You always know that a performance has gone well when audience members greet you afterwards with tears in their eyes from being taken on a musical journey. We are so thankful to Joel Love for writing such a powerful and beautiful piece for saxophone quartet.

While we did have so many great experiences in California, we also had one unexpected setback on the day of our recital at the University of Southern California…somehow Bob, Corey, and I (Steven) got a really awful stomach bug the night before driving to Los Angeles! We’re not 100% sure of what caused this, but we are 100% sure that driving four and a half hours and playing an hour recital under those conditions is the most difficult thing we have done as a quartet so far! But hey, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

Even with such a setback, we are still so happy to have been able to travel to California and impact so many students and other audience members with our music and experiences. We would also like to thank Kyle’s family (Scott, Cheryl, and Shayne Baldwin) for so kindly opening their home to us and putting up with our nine and ten hour rehearsal days! We couldn’t have done any of this without their support and wonderful hospitality.

Next stop…TEXAS!!