2019 EMM: Sept. 5-7 at Kansas City Kansas Community College
2019 Guest Performer: Drew Whiting
Saxophonist Drew Whiting leads a multifaceted career as an educator, performer, and scholar. His diverse musical interests include the standard concert saxophone repertoire, jazz, transcriptions of borrowed works, commissioning new works, and improvisation. Drew is an accomplished chamber musician, having been awarded first place at the 2012 MTNA National Chamber Music Competition as a member of the Cerulean Saxophone Quartet. He currently performs with a variety of ensembles including the Coalescent Quartet, Water City Jazz Orchestra, and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, as well as performing frequently as a solo artist.
Drew has established himself as a champion of new and experimental music, regularly performing works from the 20th and 21st centuries in solo, chamber, and electroacoustic settings. He recently performed at the Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium, Ball State University Festival of New Music, Third Practice Festival, SPLICE Festival and Institute, Navy Band Saxophone Symposium, and presented the first ever Performer-Curated Concert at the 2017 SEAMUS Conference. He has worked closely with composers such as Jeff Herriott, Betsy Jolas, Erik Lund, Ed Martin, John Mayrose, and Pauline Oliveros, and has premiered over thirty works by established and emerging composers.
In addition to performing, Drew is a dedicated and vibrant educator. He has presented masterclasses at Grand Valley State University, Illinois State University, Lawrence Conservatory, Ohio State University, and Oklahoma State University. Dr. Whiting serves as Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh where he teaches courses in aural skills, saxophone, chamber music, and co-directs the experimental music ensemble Sounds Like Now.
Drew received his Bachelors and Masters of Music degrees from the Michigan State University College of Music where he studied with Joseph Lulloff. He earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he studied with Debra Richtmeyer.
Drew is a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Vandoren Regional Artist, exclusively performing on Yamaha saxophones and Vandoren woodwind products.
About EMM
Electronic Music Midwest [EMM] is dedicated to programming of a wide variety of electroacoustic music and providing the highest quality performance of electronic media. This annual festival consists of approximately nine short concerts (about 1 hour in length) over the course of a weekend in Autumn. Our goal is to bring together vibrant and interesting artists of all forms, give them a vehicle for their expressions, and a place for them to share ideas with others.
EMM is the result of a consortium formed in 2002 between Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC), Lewis University, and the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Officially formed in 2002, this festival was founded by Mike McFerron, Connie Mayfield, and Paul Rudy in 2000 when it was presented at KCKCC under the name "Kansas City Electronic Music Festival." In 2001, the festival continued at Lewis University under the title, "Electronic Music at Lewis - 2001."
EMM has always featured an 8-speaker surround diffusion system under the guidance of Ian Corbett. The core of the system are eight Mackie 1521 bi-amped speakers, an EAW/QSC subwoofer system, and either a Soundcraft MH3 mixer (named "EMMily") or a Digico S21 (named "EMMilia"). Many visiting composers comment that EMM is one of smoothest run festivals they have ever attended.
Since its beginning, EMM has programmed over 1000 new electroacoustic compositions. Composers have traveled from around the world to graciously share their music with audiences in the Midwest. However, EMM is about more than just playing new music. We strive to create an environment conducive to building community interaction. Most concerts are approximately one hour long, and composers have plenty of time to "talk shop" with each other as well as interact socially with students and audience members.