Local saxophonist Andrew Stoker and pianist Sharon Johnson will collaborate on March 6 for the third event of Brockport’s Winter Serenades, scheduled for 3 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Returning to the series, the performance is appropriately titled Round Two. Stoker and Johnson will perform literature mostly from the 20th-century, written and arranged specifically for saxophone and piano.
The saxophone, invented in 1840, is most often viewed as a jazz instrument but also has a somewhat lesser known, but very rich classical repertoire. Stoker and Johnson will perform a selection of short audience-friendly works that showcase many diverse styles that have popularized the saxophone around the world.
Andrew Stoker has taught in Brockport for the past 23 years. He has taught students of all levels, from beginners to college music majors and in between. A woodwind specialist, he has been heard on the radio, on several albums, and in many venues in the region and in North Carolina. He’s played as a member of the Kilbourn Saxophone Quartet, as a pit musician, as a performer with top-40 bands, jazz ensembles, jazz combos, and as an orchestral soloist.
Sharon Johnson, a native of North Carolina, is associate professor of piano and collaborative piano at Houghton College. She has performed around the country and overseas with countless musicians in many different genres. Johnson has been heard performing in solo settings, as a collaborative pianist, and as a member of orchestras. Along with pianist Nancy Davis, she performs regularly around the U.S. as the piano duo Music By Two, a finalist in the 2016 American Prize Competition. She is active in premiering new works and has been heard in a multitude of venues across the country, as well as on Minnesota and Chicago Public Radio.
Stoker and Johnson first met in Greensboro in 1999, where he was working on his Master of Music degree, and she was a full time collaborative pianist in the region. Stoker headed to Brockport to begin teaching, Johnson went to Minnesota to work on her doctorate, and their paths crossed again years later.
For information, call the Village at 637-5300, ext. 110, or visit www.brockportny.org. The performance will also be available on YouTube via stlukesbrockport.org.
The final performance in the Winter Serenades series is planned for March 27 – Fascinatin’ Rhythms – Songs from the Great American Songbook, with Michael Lasser, Alan Jones, and Jessica Ann Best.
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