Grammy Award winning composer, Kenneth Fuchs, has a wide-ranging output having composed for orchestra, band, voice, chorus, and various chamber ensembles. Rush (Concerto for Alto Saxophone) was commissioned by a consortium of saxophonists and ensemble conductors as a part of a series of consortia to support the creation of saxophone concerti by prominent composers.

For Rush, Fuchs drew upon the jazz influences, sounds, and energy he grew up with in and around New York. In two movements, it makes use of extended cadenzas in the solo saxophone, performed here by Damian Cheek, to open the piece and to bridge the movements. The first movement (Evening) is lyrical, evoking the quality of great 20th Century jazz vocalists, such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. Whereas the second movement (Morning), while still beautiful, bursts with frenetic energy that highlights the technical and tonal strengths of the alto saxophone as a classical instrument. What a Rush!!

Program notes by Rob Fann