Winner of a 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant, STEVEN BANKS is an ambassador for the classical saxophone, dedicated to showcasing its vast capabilities, expanding its repertoire, and rethinking the boundaries of classical music. This performance marks his debut under San Francisco Symphony auspices.

As a soloist, Mr. Banks has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, and Colorado Music Festival. As a composer, he recently premiered a new work for alto saxophone with the Borromeo String Quartet at Carnegie Hall, and he has completed commissions for the Northwestern University Saxophone Ensemble and the Project 14 initiative at Yale University.

He is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the classical realm. In 2017, he spoke at the TEDxNorthwesternU conference about changing institutionalized prejudices against women and people of color, and he has written and given guest lectures on the history of Black classical composers. He holds degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, and he is currently Assistant Professor of Saxophone at Ithaca College.

Mr. Banks is an endorsing artist for Conn-Selmer instruments, D’Addario Woodwinds, lefreQue Sound Solutions, and Key Leaves.

XAK BJERKEN has appeared with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, the Schoenberg Ensemble, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Glinka Hall in Saint Petersburg, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, and for many years performed throughout the US as a member of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet.

He has worked closely with composers György Kurtag, Sofia Gubaidulina, Steven Stucky, and George Benjamin, and has premiered piano concertos by Stephen Hartke, Elizabeth Ogonek, and Jesse Jones, a recording of which was released by Naxos in September 2021. He is also director of Ensemble X, a new music group, and has held chamber music residencies at the Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Festival, and Olympic Music Festival.

Mr. Bjerken is Professor of Music at Cornell University, where he co-directs Mayfest with his wife, pianist Miri Yampolsky. He has also served on the faculties of Kneisel Hall, Eastern Music Festival, and Chamber Music Conference at Bennington College. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees from the Peabody Conservatory as a student of and teaching assistant of Leon Fleisher. This performance marks his debut under San Francisco Symphony auspices.