A jazz band led by seasoned saxophone performer Mack Goldsbury and the solo piano artistry of Russian classical musician Dmitri Ratser will make up the programs of two very different concerts organized this weekend by the School of Arts and Humanities.  

Saxophonist, Mack Goldsbury

Mack Goldsbury

Up first, on Friday, April 19, the Grammy-nominated Goldsbury will present an eclectic range of pieces. The crossover-jazz saxophonist  will be joined on stage by UT Dallas faculty member Kelly Durbin on piano, Victor Cager on vocals, Lou Harlas on bass and Duane Durrett on drums.

Goldsbury is considered one of the few saxophonists to successfully cross boundaries between jazz and pop. He has performed with Stevie Wonder, Cher, the Temptations, the Supremes and Tony Bennett.

He has been active in the United States, Germany and Poland. After 16 years in New York and 16 years in Berlin, Goldsbury returned to his hometown of El Paso where he is currently a faculty member at the El Paso Conservatory of Music.

The concert is at 8 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall.

On Saturday, April 20, Ratser will perform music by 20th-century Russian and American composers.

Ratser was born to a family of professional musicians and raised in the musical tradition of his homeland. Ratser won first prize in Moscow’s All-Soviet Union Rachmaninoff Competition and performed, both in recital and with symphony orchestras, across the Soviet Union, as well as on Soviet radio and television. He attained recognition as one of the few pianists to include in his regular repertoire the complete works for piano and orchestra of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Pianiar Dmitri Ratser

Dmitri Ratser

In 1990, Ratser was added to the roster of “Soloists of the Moscow Philharmonic.” In the same year, he first performed outside the former Soviet Union with the Austin Symphony Orchestra. He has returned to perform in the United States each season since his American debut.

In the United States, he has performed at Kennedy Center three times with the National Symphony Orchestra under Mstislav Rostropovich, in solo appearance at Carnegie Hall in New York and with symphony orchestras in over 35 cities.

Ratser is currently a professor on the faculty of Russian Gnessin Music Academy and Moscow Conservatory’s Central Music School. He was also invited to teach International Summer Master Classes in 2011 and 2012 at the Manhattan School of Music.

The piano concert starts at 8 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall.

General admission tickets for each concert is $15. The concert is free to UT Dallas students, faculty and staff members who present their Comet Cards at the venue box office the night of the event. Discounts are available to UT Dallas alumni and retirees as well as non-UT Dallas students.  Click here to purchase tickets online or call the UT Dallas Box Office at 972-883-2552 between the hours of 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Monday–Friday.