Steve Pollock to give Master Class at Ragsdale

Stephen Pollock is the tenor saxophonist and a founding member of the New Century Saxophone Quartet. He was born in Wurtzburg, Germany and grew up in various cities in the United States and abroad. The son of an Army Chaplin with a wonderful singing voice, and a mother who was a professional artist, Stephen grew up in a very creative and positive environment where he was always encouraged to follow his heart and chase his dreams.

He received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the North Carolina School of the Arts where he studied with Concert Saxophonist, James Houlik. Since then, he has performed as Principal Saxophonist with the Western Piedmont, Salisbury, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Charlotte, North Carolina, Charleston South Carolina, and the Tanglewood Massachusetts Festival Symphonies. As a solo recitalist Mr. Pollock has been heard throughout the United States including performances at Wake Forest University, the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford, the University of Michigan, the University of South Carolina, Samford University in Birmingham, Louisiana State University, University of Memphis, Florida State University, University of Florida, and the Cleveland Institute of Music to name but a few. He has also appeared with entertainers such as Steve Allen, Helen Reddy, Marvin Hamlisch, Boots Randolph, and Natalie Cole.

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. When he is not on the road with the New Century Saxophone Quartet or playing solo recitals, Mr. Pollock is the adjunct Professor of Saxophone as well as Saxophone Chamber Music Coach at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
Pollock has also been very committed to increasing the solo literature for the tenor saxophone and has commissioned several works from a number of composers, including Sherwood Shaffer, David Ott, Thomas Massella, Steven Jones and Glenn Haynes.
Along with serving as the saxophone judge for the North Carolina Governor’s School from 1994 to 1999, Pollock was asked to judge saxophones and chamber music for the 2004 MTNA Midwest College Level Competition at the Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio.
After the release of his first solo recording "So Near, So Far" in 2005, Stephen got right to work on his second CD for Alanna Records entitled "Songs of the Heart." It's a recording of love songs for tenor saxophone, piano and strings with several guest artist including the world renowned concert saxophonist, James Houlik; Alanna records recording artist, Amanda Ford; lead trumpet player for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Sean Jones; the legendary saxophonist, Boots Randolph; Steve's long time colleague in the New Century Saxophone Quartet, soprano saxophonist, Michael Stephenson; guitarist and producer for Alanna Records, Thomas Kikta; Pittsburgh jazz pianist, Craig Davis; and the wonderful baroque flutist and Steve's long time friend, Stephen Preston. The Alexander String Quartet along with Pittsburgh bassist Jeff Grubbs; and pianist Vahan Sargsyan once again join Stephen for this new CD of love songs. This recording is scheduled for release on Valentines Day, 2007.
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!
Stephen Pollock plays exclusively on Cannonball Saxophones. His mouthpiece is a Morgan L-5. He uses the Rovner Eddie Daniels II Ligature and endorses Rico “Grand Concert Select” reeds.