As many of you may know, we will be starting our first recording project very soon! As with any new endeavor, we are all very excited and working hard to make this a smooth and enjoyable process. We are sure to learn a lot in the next few weeks that will be invaluable to our success in the future as a performing and recording ensemble.

We are fortunate enough to be recording for the Naxos music label. A debut recording with such a reputable classical music distributor is a great opportunity for the Kenari Quartet. As we continue to navigate the transition from a student group to a professional ensemble, a recording project such as this has the potential to “put us on the map” for many institutions and musicians around the world. We have all used Naxos to find reference recordings in our studies and for pleasure, and it is an honor for us to make a contribution to the largest classical music library in the world.

The music that we will be recording on this CD has a rich history in the saxophone community. We will be recording several pieces in the French standard repertoire for saxophone quartet. As France has been the classical saxophone world’s center for many years, a great many of the masterworks for saxophone quartet were born in this country. It is a great undertaking for us to make our own statement through repertoire that has such a rich history and that means so much to our instrument. We hope that saxophone students and teachers around the world will listen to and enjoy our interpretation of this music in addition to our more general audience.

While a project of this magnitude could easily give us a few jitters, or some reservations, I think that a few words of wisdom that our mentor, Otis Murphy, said can really put the recording process into perspective for us. He once said that he looks at recordings as documentation of a musician’s life and development as an artist, rather than an opportunity to impress others or make a big profit. What truly matters is that we show an accurate representation of our groups artistry and musical perspective. We, of course, will continue to grow and develop as musicians and people, but we are who we are and will be just as proud of it now as we will be 30 years from now when we are releasing our 15th or 20th album! We are so excited and humbled to have the ability to share this first of many recordings with you, all of our friends, family, and wonderful supporters.

Please stay tuned in the first half of 2016 for more information on the CD release!