October Serenade (2010) for soprano saxophone and guitar is dedicated to Paul Wehage.
The work was inspired by the season of autumn and harvest in western New York State&mdash,
particularly the colors of the foliage and landscape.
The opening section of the work is rhapsodic, as each instrument explores a series of soloistic
gestures. This leads directly into a lyrical aria sung first by the saxophone over a guitar
accompaniment&mdash,then briefly by the guitar. Suddenly, a joyous harvest-dance erupts. This ends
rather abruptly and a rhapsodic coda emerges, but a bit of the harvest-dance returns for a
energetic finish.