Kenneth Radnofsky
Lecturer, Saxophone
MM with honors, New England Conservatory, BM cum laude, University of Houston. Saxophonist Kenneth Radnofsky has appeared as soloist with leading orchestras and ensembles throughout the world, including the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and New York Philharmonic under the direction of Maestro Kurt Masur, Dresden Staatskapelle, Boston Pops, Taipei and Taiwan Symphonies, New World Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Marlboro Festival, Portland String Quartet, and Moscow Autumn, a Russian new music festival. Mr. Radnofsky made his Carnegie Hall debut some years earlier with the NY premiere of Gunther Schuller's Concerto with the Natl. Orchestral Assn. The world premiere of the Schuller was also given by Radnofsky, with the Pittsburgh Symphony, with both of the highly acclaimed performances conducted by the composer. David Amram's Concerto, 'Ode to Lord Buckley,' is also dedicated to Radnofsky, who premiered the work with the Portland Symphony, under Bruce Hangen's direction. He has also performed on numerous occasions for the Boston Symphony over the last 30 years.
Other American composers commissioned by Radnofsky, have included Chris Theofanidis, Larry Bell, Donald Martino, Milton Babbitt, Ezra Sims, Roger Bourland, Michael Horvit, John McDonald, Allen Johnson and an innovative commission of Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Harbison for a Sonata, premiered Dec. 3, 1995 by 43 saxophonists in different locations around the globe in an effort organized by Radnofsky, entitled World-Wide Concurrent Premieres, Inc. (WWCP). Mr. Radnofsky is Founder of WWCP, and has created a network of musicians commissioning today's finest composers. Vincent Plush (Australia), and Georgy Dmitriev (Russia) have also written for Radnofsky.
Current solo cd releases include Debussy Rhapsody with the NY Philharmonic (Teldec 13133), 'Radnofsky.com' (Boston Records 1043, w/conductor Hangen), 'Fascinatin' Rhythms' (Boston Records 1044), Donald Martino's Saxophone Concerto (New World 80529-2), Michael Colgrass' Sax Concerto 'Dream Dancer,'( Mode 125), and Elliott Schwartz ' Mehitabel's Serenade (Sax Concerto) on Albany-Troy 646. In 1991 he was featured soloist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, performing Franz Waxman's 'A Place in the Sun,' under John Mauceri's direction (Philips 4321092).
During the last few years, Kenneth Radnofsky has commissioned and premiered solo works by Gunther Schuller, Yang Yong, David Amram, Michael Colgrass (2), John McDonald (5), Armand Qualliotine (3), Jaime Fatas, Pasquale Tassone (2), Shih-Hui Chen(2), Andy Vores, Lei Liang, Jakov Jakoulov(2), Donald Martino, and Elliott Schwartz, all while celebrating over 30 years of teaching, with concerts in Rome, Taipei, Havana, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Mexico City, Montreal, Caracas, Manchester, UK, Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere. His Radnofsky Saxophone Quartet performs the works of Schwartz, Wuorinen and Donatoni, as well as vintage saxophone works by Glazounov and Pierne.
2007, 2008 included the premieres of new works by Israeli composers Betty Olivero, and Gil Shohat, commissioned in honor of the 6oth Anniversary of the State of Israel, with performances at Harvard, with the Portland String Quartet, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and at the Israel Festival. 2006-7 included the world-premiere of a newly commissioned work (WWCP) by Halim El-Dabh for saxohone and derabucca, and performances of works celebrating the 95th birthdate of Alan Hovhaness. 2005-6 included numerous performances of Rachmaninoff and Chopin Cello Sonatas (on the saxophone), while 2004-5 featured premieres of new works by Chen, McDonald, Qualliotine. Concurrent with his performing and 60 hour teaching week, Radnofsky has designed and implemented a saxophone program for Venezuela. Radnofsky is committed to outreach on an international scale, nationally and locally; his editorial on such was published in the Christian Science Monitor. Radnofsky has given literally thousands of outreach performances that include a teaching component and investment in community to which he is deeply committed.
Kenneth Radnofsky's principal teachers were Joseph Allard, Jeffrey Lerner, David Salge, Steven Hoyle, Terry Anderson and Duncan Hale. Kenneth Radnofsky is currently teaching at Boston's three conservatories- The Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, The Longy School, as well as Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts students at Boston University. Please visit his website at: www.KenRadnofsky.com; e-mail: ken@kenradnofsky.com