New Album Release for Department of Music Professor

University of Arkansas saxophone professor Eric Troiano released a new album on Sept. 1 with the h2 quartet titled Infinity Mirror.

The album features new music for saxophone quartet by Takuma Itoh, David Biedenbender, Jeremiah Goh, Jeffrey Loeffert, and Armando Bayolo.

Infinity Mirror is h2's seventh studio album and was recorded during the summer of 2019. They were joined by world-renowned recording engineer and producer Sergei Kvitko at Blue Griffin Recording.

This is Troiano's first recording with the h2 quartet. "It was an incredible experience collaborating with one of the finest saxophone quartets in the country made up of great colleagues and mentors of mine," Troiano said.

The award-winning h2 quartet has been wowing audiences since 2002. h2 takes advantage of the great expressive capacity of their instrument by programming traditional, avant-garde, minimalist, and jazz-influenced works in surprising and compelling ways. h2 has performed throughout the United States, in Europe, the United Kingdom and in Asia.

The ensemble has released six critically acclaimed recordings: Generations, Times & Spaces, Groove Machine, Hard Line, Enrapture, and Soul Searching. Each of these albums introduces audiences to a different side of the saxophone, with the latter three comfortably bridging the gap between the popular and avant-garde sides of American music. Infinity Mirror is the quartet's seventh studio album.

The h2 quartet has been featured on NPR and PBS programs, including the nationally syndicated Backstage Pass. Along with demonstrating a mastery of traditional quartet repertoire, h2 is dedicated to the commissioning and performing of new works. The quartet has commissioned works by Drew Baker, Claudio Gabriele, Takuma Itoh, David MacDonald, Victor Marquez-Barrios, Roger Petersen, Forrest Pierce, David Rakowski, Jesse Ronneau, Bill Ryan, Matthew Schoendorff, Daniel Wohl, and has premiered works by John Mackey, Marc Mellits, Mari Takano, and Amy Williams.

The h2 quartet has won prizes at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition (First Prize, Gold Medals) and the North American Saxophone Alliance Saxophone Quartet Competition (first prize), among others. The group was also finalists in the Concert Artists Guild Competition and earned Honorable Mentions at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Chesapeake Bay Chamber Music Competition, and the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. h2 is also the recipient of several Aaron Copland Fund Grants.

About the Department of Music: The Department of Music in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music since 1951, has been a chartered member of Pi Kappa Lambda since 1984. Home to over 300 music majors and minors and more than 35 graduate students, the department has a faculty of 50 nationally and internationally recognized scholars, pedagogues and musicians. Our program offers degrees at the bachelor and master levels and offers an intensive one-year performer's certificate. The department is an All-Steinway School, and offers students a number of recognized ensembles, many of which have toured nationally and internationally.