LIVE @ THE 415 Summer Salon Series (Livestream)
LEVI BOYLAN, TROMBONE & LIZ AMES, PIANO
Valveless Versatility: The Trombone & Its many Styles
Sunday, AUGUST 1ST @ 4:15 PM EST
Skilled, young trombonist Levi Boylan brings the slide trombone out of the brass section and into the spotlight with a program of works from various composers (including Bizet, Handel, Calvache, & Elgar), eras, and styles (classical, jazz, and even operatic aria). Joining him is area collaborative pianist, Liz Ames, known for her partnership with saxophonist Timothy McAllister.
Trombonist Levi Boylan began his musical journey studying the piano at the age of four. He turned to the trombone at age ten, studying with Ann Arbor low brass teacher Jonathan Holtfreter. During middle and high school, he performed in many recitals and school band and orchestra programs under the direction of David Leach at Pioneer High School, he participated in several band tours that included a performance in Carnegie Hall, NYC, and several historic venues in Italy. Occasionally making cameo appearances with members of his musical family, he performed the trombone solo of the aria Tuba Mirumfrom the Mozart Requiem in a spectacle organized by his great uncle, Canadian bass baritone Gary Relyea at the Niagara-on-the Lake Music festival in Ontario, Canada. Over the years, he played many times at Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown Concert House (KCH), often accompanied by his grandmother and KCH Founder Deanna Relyea. During middle and high school, Levi annually attended the Interlochen Arts Music Summer Camp and was accepted by the Interlochen Arts Academy for his senior year where he studied with Thomas Riccobono. Upon graduation he moved on to The Juilliard School where he currently studies with the distinguished teacher Joseph Alessi. Levi has played under the batons of Marin Alsop, David Robertson, Jeffrey Milarsky, Mathew Schlomer, Leslie Dunner, Mark Wigglesworth, and many others over his years at Interlochen and as a student at the Juilliard School.
Liz Ames is a collaborative pianist who is passionate about performing and working with instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers. Her international appearances include performances in Belgium, UK, Spain, the 2012 World Saxophone Congress in St. Andrews, Scotland, the 2015 World Saxophone Congress in Strasbourg, France, the 2008 Contemporary Music Festival in Lima, Peru, and at the 2011 and 2016 International Double Reed Society Conferences. Liz has served as a staff pianist for the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conferences in Tempe, AZ, Urbana-Champagne, IL, and Lubbock,TX, and has been the Navy Saxophone Symposium staff pianist since 2016. While specializing in saxophone literature, Liz continues to pursue projects with a wide variety of instrumentalists and vocalists.
Alongside her work as a performer, Liz is devoted to creating piano reductions using extended and innovative techniques. She has written several published reductions including Henry Brant’s Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra, Peter Schickele’s Concerto for Simply Grand Piano, and multiple concertos and oratorios by Steven Bryant, Joel Puckett, Don Grantham, David Biedenbender, and John Mackey. Liz completed her doctorate in collaborative piano at Arizona State University and is currently living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She performs with musicians throughout the Midwest and with her duo partner, three-time Grammy-winning saxophonist, Timothy McAllister. The McAllister/Ames duo released two albums in July 2020 including the collected works of British composer/saxophonist Andy Scott, as well as a disc of iconic saxophone repertoire by William Albright, Edison Denisov, Steven Stucky, David Biedenbender, Bruno Mantovani and Augusta Read Thomas.
