THE AMBASSADOR DUO
Critics
have hailed the Ambassador Duo as “intuitive, exciting,
and enthralling.” “Clifford Leaman is an artist of
the first order [and] Derek Parsons is truly his musical match.” (Paul
Wagner, The Saxophone Journal) "... they reveal themselves
to be artists of technical brilliance and emotional commitment." "The
range of colors is impressive..." (Jack Sullivan, American
Record Guide) Saxophonist Clifford Leaman and pianist
Derek Parsons formed the Ambassador Duo in 1990 after meeting as
graduate students at the University of Michigan, from which they
both hold the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees
in performance.
Prior to
his appointment at the University of South Carolina where he is Professor of
Saxophone, Leaman served on the faculties of Furman University, Eastern Michigan
University, and The University of Michigan. He is in great demand as
a soloist and clinician, and has appeared widely as an artist-clinician for
Selmer saxophones. He appears on recording projects on the Redwood Records,
CRS, and University of Arizona Recordings in addition to three previous recordings
on the Equilibrium label. An avid supporter of contemporary music, Leaman
has commissioned and given the world premiere performances of numerous pieces
including concerti by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Leslie Bassett and Michael
Colgrass. His recording of the Bassett Concerto with the University
of Michigan Symphony Orchestra is available through Equilibrium
Recordings (EQ-63).
Parsons,
currently Professor of Piano at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina,
is a native of Newfoundland, Canada. He began his musical studies at the age
of four and gave his orchestral debut at age twelve. He has appeared
extensively throughout the United States and abroad as a soloist, collaborative
musician, clinician, and adjudicator, including performances for SCETV, South
Carolina Educational Radio, and CBC Radio and Television in Canada. He
has performed with such prominent saxophonists as Donald Sinta, Debra Richtmeyer,
Steven Mauk, and Joe Lulloff. His piano reduction of Leslie Bassett’s
Concerto for saxophone and orchestra is published by C. F. Peters.
Since their
debut at the 1990 Southwest Contemporary Music Festival and Conference in San
Marcos, Texas, Leaman and Parsons have been active as a duo performing and
giving clinics at numerous colleges, universities, and concert venues throughout
the United States as well as in Canada, Italy, Spain, and China. Their
repertoire covers a wide range of musical styles, from Baroque transcriptions
to the most recent avant-garde works for saxophone and piano. The Ambassador
Duo has inspired and commissioned many new works for saxophone and piano. They
have released three critically acclaimed compact discs on the Equilibrium label. These
recordings are entitledBrillance(EQ-21), Excursions(EQ-55),
andIlluminations(EQ-77), which features, among others,
three works that were written for the Duo.
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