Alex Kotch

Location

Durham, NC

Website

Bio

Alex Kotch (b. 1983) is a pioneer in fusing classical and electronic dance music, and one of the freshest new voices in contemporary saxophone repertoire. In bringing together "propulsive, post-Minimalist rhythms" (New York Times) with an extensive background in jazz, pop, experimental, electronic, and West African music, he has received honors and fellowships from ASCAP, The Transatlantic Arts Consortium, Duke University, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Sequenza21, and Juventas, and commissions from Ensemble Zellig, Trio Saxiana, Nicolas Prost, Silvia Lenzi, and Michael Straus. Alex's works, heard throughout the United States and France, have also seen performances by eighth blackbird, Odd Appetite, and the Lost Dog Ensemble. As a multimedia artist, he has received coverage from ABC News and The Associated Press, and as a performer on clarinet, saxophone, laptop, and djembe, he plays concerts and DJ sets along the East Coast. With a B.A. in Music from Brown University, Alex is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Composition at Duke University. Upcoming premieres include works for 100 saxophones, for cello, dancer, and electronics, and for saxophone and drum set, all to be performed in Paris in early 2009. Recent solo electronics performances include Providence's Pixilerations Festival and Durham's Troika Music Festival; he will perform a set at the Spark Festival in Minneapolis in February 2009.