Orchestral Debut to be Preceded by Quartet Show – Both Will Take Place at Vermont Mozart Festival

Acclaimed saxophonist Steve Wilson has confirmed a pair of July appearances in Vermont which will showcase his versatility as a Classical and Jazz performer -- On July 25th, Wilson will make his orchestral debut with the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra, under the direction of Gil Shohat. Wilson will perform The Villa Lobos Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra.

Wilson describes the piece as follows: “The Fantasia is one of the signature concertos for saxophone and it is perfectly conceived for the voice of the soprano saxophone particularly. The three movements cover a wide emotional range, and the lyrical and virtuosic elements are beautifully balanced.”

Days earlier, on July 22, Wilson and his Quartet (Danny Grissett, Ben Williams and Joe Saylor) will perform a jazz set at the Vermont Mozart Festival. The Founder and Artistic Director of the Festival, Mel Kaplan, conceived the pair of performances as a vehicle to introduce Steve Wilson’s extraordinary range to an audience more accustomed to straight- ahead Classical/Chamber artists. Wilson’s Quartet show will feature original compositions as well as familiar favorites from the American Songbook.

Steve Wilson’s Two Vermont Mozart Festival concerts: July 22, Steve Wilson Quartet performs at Grand Isle Lake House Gates open at 5:30 for picnicking; Concert at 7:30; General Admission $30.50

July 25, Steve performs the Villa-Lobos Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra, conductor Gil Shohat, at Shelburne Farms, Shelburne, VT Gates open at 5:15 for picnicking; Concert at 7:00; General Admission $30.50

Other upcoming Steve Wilson activities for the months ahead include:

Steve will tour the West Coast with Christian McBride's Inside Straight June 11-20. Concerts will include Yoshi's in Oakland, CA; Kuumbwa in Santa Cruz; Jazz Alley in Seattle; Catalina's in LA. Steve will perform a pair of special duo concerts with his long-time band mate, pianist Bruce Barth. Friday, June 26th they perform at Teatro Scarpino in Fayetteville, AR.

On Saturday, June 27th they are in Columbia, MO to perform a very special house concert benefit for the 15th Anniversary of the We Always Swing Jazz Series.

He tours Canadian Festivals (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal) with Maria Schneider Orchestra June 28 – 30.

Goes to Europe with Christian McBride Inside Straight July 2 -14. Performs at the 92nd Street Y July 30 “Sax Summit" led by Bill Charlap, with Ray Drummond, Lewis Nash, Phil Woods, Jimmy Heath, Harry Allen, and Jimmy Greene In October, Steve will be part of a second European tour with Christian McBride and Inside Straight.

November Steve does a 3-day residency at NC Central University. Nov.24-29 with Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra at The Jazz Standard in NYC.

Dec 17 - 20 at Jazz Standard in NYC. Steve will return for 4 nights with his tribute to Joe Zawinul that he put together in for the Austrian Cultural Forum's Jazz Festival last year.

The band features Jeremy Pelt, Ugonna Okegwo, Danny Grissett, and Rodney Green. Steve plays the early music of Zawinul, music from the albums “Money In the Pocket,” “Rise and Fall of the Third Stream,” and a few hits from his Cannonball days.

Steve has also just been invited to play with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in December, as a guest artist. It's a tribute to 50th's (Miles, Coltrane, Ornette). Steve will lead one clinic on Dec 9th, concert at Harris Theater on Dec 11.

Wilson is one of the most well liked, in-demand and respected figures in jazz, and his multiple roles as a band leader, sideman, educator and jazz historian have lead journalists to praise him as “a dynamic improviser,” “a musician’s musician,” “one of the finest saxophone players today,” and more. Wilson’s recent performance at The Kennedy Center aired on NPR’s JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater, and The Washington Post Express recently described his recordings as “captivating.”

In a live review in ALL ABOUT JAZZ, Wilson's performance at the Rubin Museum in New York was described as follows: “Wilson wove his sound through the music in a manner that was spellbinding in its nuance and attentiveness to dynamics."

Recently nominated as Alto Player of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association, and profiled in ALL ABOUT JAZZ, Wilson is known for his modest, warm personality…and for his in-depth knowledge of all-things-jazz.

At the newly-launched stevewilsonmusic.com, visitors will be able to sample new tunes and see performance footage. The site, part of the Jazz Corner family, also includes a streaming audio player, details of Wilson's numerous band configurations, and more.