Mathew Rosenblum’s Möbius Loop, a concerto for saxophone quartet and orchestra, received a glowing review in the Boston Globe after its January 20th performance by the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet and Boston Modern Orchestra Project. According to the Globe’s Jeremy Eichler, “From the perspective of sheer sonic imagination, Mathew Rosenblum's “Möbius Loop” made the strongest impression as it packed the octave not with 12 tones but with 21, creating an ear-buzzing flood of sound, rich in unusual overtones.”

The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet’s collaboration with Rosenblum began in 2000 when they commissioned him for a concerto. Möbius Loop was the result and the Raschèr gave the U.S. premiere of the work with the Music on the Edge Chamber Orchestra on an acclaimed 2002 concert at Pitt. Subsequently, the quartet commissioned Rosenblum to create a version for saxophone quartet alone. While in Boston, the group recorded Möbius Loop with BMOP. They performed the quartet version in visits to Pittsburgh and Cleveland during the continuation of their tour.

Sister Marie Agatha Ozah’s article “The Iwali Child Queen Dance of Ogoja, Nigeria” appears in the most recent issue of The World of Music 49, 2006-1. In the Iwali tradition, a young girl is chosen to symbolize the embodiment of womanhood and women as custodians and transmitters of culture. She grows up separated from other children and is expected to live up to the community’s highest standards for artistic expression as well as personal behavior. Ozah’s article focuses on how music and dance are integrated to form vital aspects of the Iwali’s life. The article also explores the inherent balancing of irreplaceable traditions with varying degrees of change brought about by modernity.