North American Saxophone Alliance Region 8 Conference - From the Ashes of Disaster
From the Ashes of Disaster (2025)
ca. 8’ | alto saxophone + modular accompaniment
Han Hitchen (b. 1997)
Luke Kranyak, alto saxophone
Charles McCall, percussion 1
Michael Valente, percussion 2
Bella Scotti, percussion 3
Ryder Haines, percussion 4
Saturday, March 29, 2025
10:40 – 11:00 A.M.
Penn State University
School of Music
Music Building I
Esber Rehearsal Hall
Program Notes:
Times of trial weave in and out of our lives. At the end of a difficult period, we find release. We persevere to overcome these trials, and see ourselves released into better times. From the Ashes of Disaster is a work for alto saxophone that can exist in one of three formats. The saxophone part is the same regardless of the accompaniment, but the three accompaniment options each allow for the saxophone to persevere in different contexts.
This piece was commissioned by a consortium led by Luke Kranyak. Today’s performance is the world premiere of this piece and starts the consortium’s exclusivity period.
Consortium Members:
Performers:
Adam Estes | Oxford, Mississippi (University of Mississippi)
Artur Mendes | Lisbon, Portugal
Charlie Chadwell | Macomb, Illinois (Western Illinois University)
Dannel Espinoza | Hattiesburg, Mississippi (The University of Southern Mississippi)
David Stambler | Centre Hall, Pennsylvania (Penn State University)
Doug O’Connor | Washington, D.C. (Peabody Institute)
Elizabeth Vito | Scranton, Pennsylvania (Marywood University)
Ian Jeiress | Sylva, North Carolina (Western Carolina University)
Jarod Apple | Elizabeth, New Jersey (Rutgers University)
Jeremy Koch | Bethesda, Maryland (George Washington University/Shepherd University)
Kendra Wheeler | Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Louisiana State University)
Kyle Blake Jones | Kansas City, Missouri
Manuel Vásquez Ramírez | Eau Claire, Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
Sarah Hetrick | Fayetteville, Arkansas (University of Arkansas)
Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP) | Tampa, Florida
Matchstick Percussion | Columbia, Maryland
Commissioners:
Baljinder Singh Sekhon, II | State College, Pennsylvania (Penn State University)
Carly Hood | Cincinnati, Ohio (University of Cincinnati [CCM])
Chika Inoue | Los Angeles, California (California State University, Dominguez Hills)
Dawson Coleman | Kansas City, Missouri (University of Missouri-Kansas City)
James Barger | Canyon, Texas (West Texas A&M University)
Mike Nguyen | Grand Prairie, Texas (University of Texas at Arlington)
Luke Kranyak is a dynamic saxophonist and dedicated performer based in central Pennsylvania. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in Saxophone Performance at The Pennsylvania State University, where he studies under Dr. David Stambler. With minors in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Arts Entrepreneurship, Luke blends his artistic talents with a forward- thinking business mindset to expand his audio/visual recording service and music lesson studio.
Known for his versatility and technical prowess, Luke has performed with Penn State’s premiere ensembles, including the Penn State Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Centre Dimensions Jazz Ensemble. Under the baton of Dr. Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin, he recently completed the first wind ensemble recording of Roberto Molinelli's Four Pictures from New York, serving as the solo saxophonist with the Penn State Symphonic Wind Ensemble. His orchestral experience includes performing Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances with the Penn State Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, Luke has experience working as a contracted performer through RWS Global at Hersheypark, performing with a strolling brass band during the summer 2023 and summer 2024 seasons.
Luke has performed throughout the United States at venues including Bailey Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh, PA, the White House in Washington D.C., and has worked with musicians to the likes of Dayna Stephens and Valentin Kovalev. An advocate for new music, Luke actively collaborates with contemporary composers, frequently premiering original works. He has debuted pieces by Dr. Baljinder Singh Sekhon, Dr. William Stowman, Katahj Copley, and Han Hitchen, bringing fresh compositions to life. His commitment to expanding the wind ensemble and saxophone repertoire has made him a champion of innovative and boundary-pushing music.
In addition to his performance career, Luke demonstrates a strong commitment to arts advocacy and leadership. He serves as Treasurer and Web Manager for the Penn State Saxophone Alliance, securing over $67,800 in funding from university- affiliated resources and over $29,490 from private endowment funds/nonprofits for masterclasses, festivals, and guest artist residencies.
Learn more about Luke Kranyak and his work at [www.LukeKranyak.com]
Award-winning composer Han Hitchen (b. 1997) writes for a wide range of genres, including various
acoustic settings, and electroacoustic works for fixed media and live processing. Their music is informed by their experiences as a queer person, and draws inspiration from socially taboo topics that Han hopes to bring attention to, such as menstruation cycles, family discourse, death/mortality, and reproductive rights.
Hitchen’s music has been presented at several events across the globe, including MUSLAB’s International Exhibition of Electroacoustic Music, the Penn State New- Music Festival and Symposium, MuSE Sound of Arts Festival, the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), the Osaka University of Arts Electroacoustic Music Festival, Electroacoustic Barn Dance (EABD), Electronic Music Midwest (EMM), and the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF). His music has been performed throughout the United States, as well as Ecuador, South Korea, Japan, and Mexico.
Their work for brass quintet and percussion quintet, blending, won the 2024 Penn State Ensemble Call for Scores, and will be premiered by the Penn State Graduate Brass Quintet and Percussion Ensemble in April 2024. feeding fire – a work for stereo fixed media – is included on MUSLAB: Planeta Complejo, a CD produced by Cero Records. Their work for orchestra, Fog, won the 2022 Penn State Ensemble Call for Scores, and was premiered by the Penn State Philharmonic Orchestra in February 2022. In May 2021, their piano work Ursus maritimus was featured as a part of Eunmi Ko’s SPAM! project on I Care If You Listen and Neuma Records. In March 2019, Hitchen’s fixed media work Hot Oil won the Terroir New Music Call for Scores, and was performed at Terroir 009: Adjunt. In the spring of 2018, Hitchen was awarded a Merit Award for Electronic Music from the University of South Florid School of Music.
Hitchen recently graduated with a Master of Music in Composition and Theory from Penn State University, where they studied with Baljinder Singh Sekhon, II and Sarah Genevieve Burghart Rice. He also holds a Professional Performance Certificate (PPC) in Composition and Music Technology from Penn State University, and a Bachelor of Music in Acoustic and Electronic Composition from the University of South Florida.
Learn more about Han Hitchen and their work at [www.HanHitchen.com]
