November 18-24, 2004

musicpicks

Prism

classical

The saxophone is the bastard child of the concert world. So says Matthew Levy, who should know. He is a co-founder of Prism, the locally based sax quartet which is celebrating 20 years of music-making this season. Levy, like most of his colleagues, takes some sly pride in the bad-boy image of his chosen instrument, and Prism's landmark season celebrates the dual heritage of jazz and classical music that the saxophone represents with a series of new works. The feature piece will be a premiere of "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral," by Steve Mackey, which was, despite the title, inspired by skiing—celebrating the exhilarating, flirting-with-danger quality of the sport. Levy himself will present a new work and, as the sort of grand finale of saxophone fireworks, Prism will present 24 one-minute-long pieces by a who's-who list of classical and jazz composers.

Sun., Nov. 21, 3 p.m., $10-$20, Trinity Center for Urban Life, 22nd and Spruce sts., 215-569-9700.

—Peter Burwasser