For Your GRAMMY® Consideration
Best Chamber Music /
Small Ensemble Performance
Steven BAnks: CRIES SIGHS AND DREAMS
STEVEN BANKS, COMPOSER AND SAXOPHONE
XAK BJERKEN, PIANO
THE DOVER QUARTET
Cries, Sighs, and Dreams stands as both an artistic statement and a mission: to expand the public understanding of the saxophone’s role in 21st-century classical music while using music as a means of deeper human and spiritual connection.
“Banks has a riveting presence [….] charismatic confidence, technical flawlessness, adventurous phrasing, unbelievably sweet tones and notes of deep musculature held with near infinite length”
— Seen and Heard International
“The piece (Come As You Are), which was given a passionate performance by both players, offers a unique and ambitious blend of feelings and sounds: a deep intimacy, a Romantic-style flourish, the dramatic flair of gospel music, and a sense of vulnerability that comes through in the history of the spirituals.”
— Jarrett Hoffman, cleveland classical
An artist with “the potential to be one of the transformational musicians of the 21st century” (Seen and Heard International), saxophonist and composer Steven Banks is on twin missions to foreground his instrument within, and to diversify, the classical music world. The album takes inspiration from Hector Berlioz’s early description of the saxophone as an instrument that “cries, sighs, and dreams. It possesses a crescendo and can gradually diminish until it is only an echo of an echo. I know of no other instrument that possesses this particular capacity to reach the outer limits of audible sound. "Embracing that poetic vision, the album explores the full expressive spectrum of the saxophone family — soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone — through works spanning Saint-Saëns, Creston, Carlos Simon, and and 3 contrasting compositions by Steven Banks himself. The title reflects both the sonic possibilities of the instrument and the deeply personal nature of composition, where music becomes a vehicle for joy, anguish, reflection, and spiritual inquiry.
CRESTON: Sonata for E-flat Saxophone and Piano, Movement 1
BANKS: Cries, Sighs, and Dreams for alto saxophone and string quartet
STEVEN BANKS
Steven Banks is redefining the place of the saxophone in classical music, bringing to the instrument a distinctive voice as both performer and composer. A recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the first saxophonist to win First Prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, he has appeared as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and other leading ensembles. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Banks has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Davies Symphony Hall, and major festivals across the country, collaborating with pianist Xak Bjerken and ensembles including the Borromeo, St. Lawrence, and Dover quartets. His work as a composer explores personal, cultural, and social themes, with commissions from Young Concert Artists, WQXR, Yale University, and other organizations. His Cries, Sighs and Dreams for alto saxophone and string quartet was premiered at Carnegie Hall, and his music has been praised for its intimacy, vulnerability, and expressive range. Banks is also a committed advocate for greater representation in classical music and has created programs and conversations exploring the experiences of Black artists and other historically underrepresented voices. He serves on the Saxophone and Chamber Music Faculty and as Artist-in-Residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Xak BJERKEN
Pianist Xak Bjerken has appeared as soloist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has performed at major venues throughout Europe, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. A former member of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet, he has held chamber music residencies at Tanglewood, Avaloch Farm, and the Spoleto Festival, and has performed and taught at Aspen, Kneisel Hall, and Kfar Blum. For more than 20 years, Bjerken has directed Ensemble X, the new-music group founded by Steven Stucky, and has worked closely with composers György Kurtág, Sofia Gubaidulina, and George Benjamin. He recently recorded two albums of original compositions with the bluegrass ensemble EZRA and performs regularly with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Bjerken is professor of music at Cornell University, where he co-directs the international chamber music festival Mayfest, and studied with Aube Tzerko at UCLA and Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory.
DOVER QUARTET
Praised for its “sublime playing” by The New York Times, the Dover Quartet has become one of the defining string quartets of its generation, celebrated for its depth, precision, power, and luminous sound. Its 2026–27 season includes appearances at Chamber Music Northwest, the National Gallery of Art, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Cal Performances, as well as collaborations with Edgar Meyer, Michelle Cann, and Marc-André Hamelin. Following first violinist Joel Link’s 2025 appointment as Concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra, the Quartet continues in its current configuration, with its members’ individual careers encompassing leading orchestral, chamber music, and teaching roles. The ensemble’s 2025 album Woodland Songs features the world-premiere recording of Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s Abokkoli’ Taloowa’, alongside Tate’s orchestration of Pura Fé’s Rattle Songs and Dvořák’s “American” Quartet. The recording explores connections between Indigenous traditions and American musical life and was featured by NPR Music. The Dover Quartet’s acclaimed discography also includes GRAMMY-nominated recordings of the complete Beethoven string quartets for Cedille Records and the Schumann quartets for Azica Records. Its honors include a sweep of all prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award.
Co-Produced by: Richie Hawley/ Il Pirata Records and Ryan Streber
Recording Engineer: Ryan Streber
Editing and Mixing: Richie Hawley
Mastering Engineer: Silas Brown/ Legacy Sound
Album Design: Dom Cooper