Sax performance next up in concert series

A solo saxophonist is next up on Impromptu Concerts’ schedule in Key West.

Ashu Kejariwal is slated to perform at 4 p.m. Jan. 29 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 401 Duval St. He’ll be accompanied by pianist Winston Choi.

Last summer, he won the Audience Award at the International Musical Olympus Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, competing against violinists, pianists and vocalists.

He was born and raised in California and began playing the saxophone at age 10. He moved to the Woodlands, Texas,with his family when he was 12. When he was 16, he made his recital debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall and his concerto debut at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.

Kejariwal’s concerts last year included halls in Russia, South Africa, Great Britain, Finland, New Zealand, Switzerland, Singapore, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Azerbaijan, Canada, and the U.S. His repertoire ranges from original soprano and alto saxophone works by Ibert, Glazunov and Debussy, to his own arrangements of Piazzolla, Rachmaninoff and Morricone.

Choi is the head of the piano program at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. His career was launched when he was named the laureate of the 2003 Honens International Piano Competition and winner of France’s 2002 Concours International de Piano 20 siècle d’Orléans.

He recently appeared in recital at the National Arts Centre of Canada, the Carnegie-Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Kravis Center, the Library of Congress and Merkin Recital Hall.

At the Jan. 29 Key Werst performance, the two will perform the “Concertino da Camera” by Jacques Ibert; the “Andante from Cello Sonata, Op.19” by Sergei Rachmaninoff; the “Sonata, Op.19 for Alto Saxophone and Piano” by Paul Creston; Three Tangos for Soprano Saxophone and Piano by Astor Piazzolla; an “Italian Film Suite” by Ennio Morricone; and “Fantaisie sur un Thème Original for Alto Saxophone and Piano by Jules Demersseman.

Tickets are $20 and available at www.keystix.com or the door. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, call (305) 296-1520 or visit www.keywestimpromptu.org.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 10:39 AM with the headline "Sax performance next up in concert series."