Stephen Pollock - tenor saxophone

Stephen Pollock is a founding member and tenor saxophonist of the New Century Saxophone Quartet. He was born in Wurtzburg, Germany and grew up in various cities in the United States and abroad. Mr. Pollock received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the North Carolina School of the Arts where he studied with Concert Saxophonist James Houlik. He has performed as Principal Saxophonist with the Western Piedmont, Salisbury, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Charlotte, North Carolina, Charleston, and the Tanglewood Massachusetts Festival Symphonies. As a solo recitalist, Mr. Pollock has performed throughout North Carolina as well as at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford, the University of Michigan School of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has also appeared with celebrities such as Steve Allen, Helen Reddy, Marvin Hamlisch, Boots Randolph, and Natalie Cole.

His commitment to increasing the literature for the tenor saxophone has prompted him to commission new solo works from a number of composers, including Sherwood Shaffer, David Ott, Thomas Massella, and Steven Jones. Mr. Pollock has served on the faculties of Davidson College, the Community Music School of the North Carolina School of the Arts, Catawba College, Salem College, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Wake Forest University. In the summers, Mr. Pollock can be found in Little Switzerland, NC where he is the Coordinator for the James Houlik Saxophone Retreat at Wildacres. Currently Mr. Pollock is the adjunct Professor of Saxophone as well as Saxophone Chamber Music Coach at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Stephen’s current project is the release of his first solo recording "So Near, So Far." It's a recording of music for tenor saxophone, piano and strings including music by Gustav Mahler, Sherwood Shaffer, Eugene Bozza, love songs from North and South America and the British Isles as well as original music from Pollock himself. Guest artist are the world renowned Alexander String Quartet, Armenian pianist Vahan Sargsyan, bass virtuoso John Patitucci, legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis, members of the New Century Saxophone Quartet - Connie Frigo and Michael Stephenson and guest alto saxophonist Andrew Hays.

When Stephen isn't busy with the saxophone his other activities include Martial Arts, Scouting, and building 1/32 scale WWII fighter aircraft models. He loves to cook and is also very fond of a good red wine and the single malt scotch Lagavulin. When Stephen is on the road he is always in search of the correctly poured Guinness Stout!

Email: steve@newcenturysax.com
Web site: www.stephen-pollock.com