Summary: The Barry Sax Show<br> <br> Paul Cohen is one of America's most sought-after saxophonists for orchestral and chamber concerts and solo recitals. He has appeared as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, Richmond Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, New York Virtuosi, Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony and the Philharmonia Virtuosi. His many solo orchestra performances include works by Debussy, Creston, Ibert, Glazunov, Martin, Loeffler, Husa, Dahl, Still, Villa-Lobos, Tomasi, and Cowell. <br> <br> He has also performed with a broad range of orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, New Jersey Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Long Island Philharmonic, Group for Contemporary Music, Greenwich Symphony, Charleston Symphony, New York Solisti, and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra.<br> <br> Dr. Cohen is on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, Rutgers University, Queens College and New York University.<br> <br> Dr. Cohen holds M.M and DMA degrees from Manhattan School of Music. His teachers have included Galan Kral, Joe Allard, and Sigurd Rascher. <br> <br> He has published more than 100 articles on the history and literature of the saxophone in music journals such as the Saxophone Journal, Instrumentalist, CBDNA Notes, Clarinet and Saxophone Society Magazine of Great Britain, The Grainger Society Journal, and the Saxophone Symposium, and since 1985 a feature column, “Vintage Saxophones Revisited,” for the Saxophone Journal. <br> <br> Combining his musicological pursuits with performing activities, Dr. Cohen has rediscovered and performed lost saxophone literature, including solo works for saxophone and orchestra by Loeffler, Florio and Dahl (for winds), as well as rare chamber works by Grainger, Ornstein, Sousa, Cowell, Siegmeister, and Loeffler. <br> <br> His company, To the Fore Publishers, publishes his arrangements and settings for saxophone ensemble as well as original, historical, and contemporary saxophone works from selected composers. Dr. Cohen frequently presents lectures on the saxophone, illustrating his talks with rare instruments, manuscripts, and archival material from his extensive private collection.<br> <br> About Paul Cohen: The Paul Cohen saxophone collection. Starting out as a chemistry major. Choosing music because it is a passion. Working eight days a week. The satisfaction of students learning something new. The musical level of saxophonists is not rising as fast as the technical and tonal aspects. Learning with an orchestral oboist. Learning with Joe Allard and Sigurd Raschèr. Working on the Dahl concerto. Having a unique way of teaching. The importance of the flexibility of tone production. Productive practising in the middle of the night. Never playing from memory. Joe Allard and tone production. Learning to play vintage mouthpieces and equipment. Learning adaptability at a young age. Practising in short bursts. Allowing a few days to learn a passage. An organically evolving career. Dividing lessons into three parts. Teaching on the weekends. The importance of working with composers. Doing non-jazz improvisation. Avoiding long tones. Achieving orchestral parody of the saxophone. Sounding the same on any mouthpiece. Mistakes are inevitable as part of our humanity. Current and future projects.
