Saxophonist Steven Banks in live-streamed concert of new works, including his own “Come as You Are”

On March 10, Young Concert Artists will live-stream a concert from New York City’s Merkin Hall by Steven Banks, the first classical saxophonist on its roster. The program—featuring Banks, pianist Xak Bjerken, and members of the Zorá Quartet—will include the world premieres of Carlos Simon’s hear them for tenor saxophone and piano (a co-commission with Washington Performing Arts), Saad Hadid’s A Sonata for When Time Stands Still, and Banks’s own Come as You Are, influenced by the African-American church music that was part of Banks’s childhood. Each of the latter work’s four movements is dedicated to a different member of Banks’s family, and takes inspiration from their favorite spiritual or sacred song (“Lift My Eyes,” “Times of the Storm,” “Strength of My Life” and “Lift My Hands”). Also on the program: Mozart’s Oboe Quartet and Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73. Banks was among the first-prize winners of the 2019 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, who also included Quartet Amabile and pianists Martin James Bartlett and Albert Cano Smit. The program will be live-streamed on YCA’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.