Richard Brasseale and Eleni Katz- Recital at May Chapel

Richard Brasseale and Eleni Katz Recital
Please, join us for an evening of contemporary saxophone and bassoon music, featuring guest vocalist Chris Filipowicz, and pianist Lillia Woolschlager.
Featuring music of Rossa Crean, Lila Meretzky, and Richard Brasseale
Hailed for her virtuosity and vibrant musical spirit, bassoonist Eleni Katz has established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Her “thoughtful and expressive” (San Diego Union Tribune) approach to music making has led her to performances by the bright blue waters of Bermuda to the lights of Carnegie Hall. Eleni is a winner of the 2022 Concert Artist Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Nu Deco Ensemble, the Jupiter Chamber Players, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Sarasota Orchestra, and as a member with the New World Symphony. Other recent appearances include La Jolla Music Society's SummerFest, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Series, Lake George Music Festival, Phoenix Chamber Music Society, Death of Classical: The Crypt Sessions, and Newport Classical. Her approach to playing the bassoon has been described as “uncannily human” (The Royal Gazette) and has always believed the bassoon should emulate the organic nature of the human voice. In August, Eleni will starting as bassoon teaching faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.

Richard Brasseale is a saxophonist, composer, and educator in the Chicago area.
An acclaimed saxophonist, he has played with numerous ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Madison Symphony, Fulcrum Point New Music Ensemble, Camerata Chicago, and others. Recent solo performances include the DePaul Symphony Orchestra, North Park Orchestra, and various recitals. He has performed in the Spahlinger Festival, EAR TAXI Festival, Brevard Music Festival, and Terry Riley's 80th Birthday Concert.
As a composer, Richard is lyrical, colorful, and expressive. He has scored films that have appeared in the Queer Bits Film Festival, the Cleveland International Film Festival, and the DePaul Premiere Film Festival. He has also written music for various Second City sketch shows. He recently premiered his bassoon saxophone trio, Enlaced Friendship, at New World Symphony. He has also released multiple, cross-genre albums of varying instrumentation, streamed by over 50,000 listeners in over a hundred countries. In 2021, his piece The Hardest Part won the People's Choice Award for the National Saxophone Museum's Creative Saxophone Expression Prize.
He currently teaches Saxophone Instruction and Chamber Music classes at North Park University, where he was recently awarded a NETVUE grant for vocational development in his students.

Host or Publisher Richard Brasseale