Karl Larson and Jim Fusik

Karl Larson, piano, and Jim Fusik, saxophone

Program:
Scott Wollschleger – ‘That which pushes back is its force’
Sky Macklay – ‘Density Dancity (long)’
George Aperghis – ‘P.S.’
Eric Wubbels – ‘This is This is This is’

Description:
James Fusik (saxophones) and Karl Larson (piano) return to Chicago with an exciting program of cutting edge new works for saxophone and piano. The concert centers around two new works by Scott Wollschleger and Sky Macklay commissioned by the Fusik/Larson duo for the 2016-2017 concert season. Also featured on the program are George Aperghis’s ‘P.S.’ for solo saxophone and Eric Wubbels’s phenomenal memoriam to David Foster Wallace, ‘This is This is This is.’

Biographies:
Dr. James Fusik currently serves as Assistant Professor of Woodwinds at Minot State University (ND), and has previously taught at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. He has degrees from Bowling Green State University (M.M., DMA), and Central Michigan University (B.M. Theory/ Composition, B.M.E. Music Ed), with studies under John Sampen,
John Nichol, and Marilyn Shrude. A frequent clinician and recitalist, Fusik has performed at conservatories and universities throughout the Midwest as well as various new music series events in Chicago, New York, and Omaha. Internationally he has performed in Germany, Poland, Canada, Belgium, and recently as a participant in the 2016 Darmstadt New Music Courses. He has premiered over 100 new compositions from composers including Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Luther Adams, Christopher Cerrone, Ravi Kittappa, and Nathan Davis. He is a frequent presenter and active contributor to the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA). Fusik is a Conn-Selmer Endorsing Artist, exclusively performing on Selmer Paris Saxophones and mouthpieces.

Brooklyn based pianist Karl Larson is a specialist in the music of our time, consistently presenting adventurous programs. Karl has premiered many solo piano and chamber pieces, including works by David Rakowski, Ken Thomson, Robert Honstein, Chris Cerrone, and David Lang. Recent performances of note include Morton Feldman’s Triadic Memories, Olivier Messiaen’s Harawi, and the world premiere of Scott Wollschleger’s Meditations on Dust for solo piano and string orchestra.

A sought after collaborator, Larson has worked with many notable musicians and ensembles including Tristan Perich, Ashley Bathgate, Vicky Chow, Erik Carlson, Mantra, Ensemble Signal, the Eco Ensemble, the Sleeping Giant Composer Collective, and Contemporaneous. He has been featured on many notable series and festivals including the Bang on a Can Marathon, the MATA Festival, WQXR’s Hammered!, the Contagious Sounds Series, the Frequency Series, Make Music New York, the Outpost Concert Series, the Vanguard Series, the Red Note New Music Festival, the Ball State New Music Festival, the Music in the Shape of a Pear Festival, and the Bowling Green State University New Music Festival.

Larson is also a founding member of Bearthoven, a piano, bass, and percussion trio dedicated to the frequent promotion and performance of brand new works. Since the group’s formation in 2013, Bearthoven has commissioned over 15 pieces and is currently working on their first album, which will be released on Cantaloupe Music in the Spring of 2017.

Karl received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Contemporary Music and a Master of Music in Piano Performance at Bowling Green State University, where he studied with Dr. Laura Melton. Larson completed his undergraduate degree at Luther College in Decorah Iowa as a pupil of Dr. John Strauss. He is on faculty at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.