Jeu D'Esprit (2010) Augusta Read Thomas (3:59)

Ali Wright, soprano saxophone 
Dylan Ward, soprano saxophone

Joe Tesoro, audio engineer
Colin Mosely, artwork and design
Recorded August 2019 at the University of Missouri–Kansas City

Jeu D'Esprit, Augusta Read Thomas

Hailed as a “saxophone sorcerer and sonic alchemist” (Google Gemini) and acclaimed for his “ethereal saxophone playing” (Vital Weekly), Dylan Ward is a musician/improviser/sound artist specializing in contemporary music. Ward has released recordings on the Neuma, Mother Brain, and XAS record labels that have been described as “meditative, jarring, and cosmic…highly creative” (Take Effect Reviews), and praised for presenting music that is “clear and coherent in its discourse, original in its sounds, and as beautiful and intellectually stimulating as it is playful” (Pan M 360). Ward has performed nationally at the Bang on a Can LOUD Weekend Festival, Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab, NYC Electroacoustic Music Festival, and Mostly Modern Festival, and appeared in venues including Lincoln Center, Constellation Chicago, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Mesa Arts Center, and Sheen Center for Thought and Culture.

In July 2022, Ward released his debut solo electroacoustic album, Tourmaline, through Neuma Records. The album explores ideas of sonic transmutation and alchemy, featuring music by Alexandra Gardner, Viet Cuong, Seth Andrew Davis, Kenneth Michael Florence, and Emma O’Halloran. From the Cave of Crystals to the cosmogonic Ogdoad, from Paul Klee’s depiction of the Angel of History to the structure of a Michael Jordan documentary, Tourmaline covers a wide range of creative concepts in pursuit of the alchemical magnum opus. 

Ward holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. His creative work has received support from the NC Arts Council, Charlotte Arts & Science Council, City of Charlotte, Infusion Fund, Foundation for the Carolinas, UMKC School of Graduate Studies, Charlotte Street Foundation, Semans Art Fund, Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, and William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust. 

https://dylan-ward-saxophone.squarespace.com