Lawrence
Today magazine, Fall 2006
The world premiere of “We Fall...We Rise,” a commissioned work
by award-winning composer Javier Arau, ’98, highlighted the Second Annual
Lawrence University Saxophone Studio and Alumni Recital, held on campus in
May.
“We Fall...We Rise” was the product of a commission specifically
for the occasion that Lawrence saxophone alumni offered Arau, who attended
the May
recital, at which his composition was performed by a 15-member ensemble of
alumni and current students.
Arau’s work as a performer, composer, and arranger has been recognized
four times by Down Beat magazine. He earned back-to-back “DBs” in
1996 and 1997 as a student at Lawrence for solo performance (tenor saxophone)
and original composition, respectively, and earned two more as a graduate student
at the New England Conservatory, where he earned a master’s degree in
composition.
Arau, who moved to New York ten days before the September 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks, says “We Fall...We Rise” is not a tribute to or partisan
political statement about “9/11,” but an expression of a common
goal for an end to so much turmoil in the world. On a more personal level,
it also represents his own struggle as a young musician trying to carve out
his niche in a city that is both exhilarating and rewarding as well as enormously
challenging and unforgiving.
Since 2001, Arau has established himself as a sought-after composer, arranger,
saxophonist, and music teacher. He performs regularly with various bands at
several of Manhattan’s top jazz clubs, his commissions have
been performed around the world, and his compositional output has expanded
to include musical theatre and feature films. In 2002, he was awarded ASCAP’s
first annual Young Jazz Composer Award, and two years later he was named a
member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop.
