Rising Stars
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Eric Hewitt
Who says classical music is all about symphonies, serenades, and concertos? Saxophonist Eric Hewitt, a New England Conservatory grad, certainly doesn’t. His sax screeches, warbles, blurts, and wails on HeavyUp/HeavyDown (GM Recordings), Hewitt’s most recent release as half of the Yesaroun’ Duo. The two-disc set starts off with eight one-minute compositions, fiery blasts that noted composer Jefferson Friedman adapted from songs by metal outfit Crom-Tech. That project was squeezed in between the concerts Hewitt conducts (and often arranges) as music director and conductor of the Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble, the Charles River Wind Ensemble in Watertown, and White Rabbit, an avant-garde ensemble in residence at Harvard University. Plus, he directs the Boston College High Big Band once a week. (Whew!) And we haven’t even gotten to his salaried job yet: Chair of the Woodwind Department at the Boston Conservatory. Oh, and did we mention he’s 29? And that he was hired four years ago, making him the youngest department head in the school’s history?
Hewitt is as knowledgeable about the history of classical music and jazz as he is accomplished in his technique, and it’s that profound understanding of music’s evolution over time that drives him to formulate what’s next — and to bring musical styles long perceived as esoteric into the mainstream. For instance, he recently directed BC High in the premiere of a piece he wrote that sets the Kyrie, an early part of the Catholic mass, for jazz big band and chorus. “I have to make a living, but I also have a vision about where our classical music, our art, should go,” Hewitt says. “I say ‘classical musicians,’ but I’ve engaged across classical music lines in the jazz world, in the indie-rock world, and in the heavymetal world. I’m looking to bring the techniques and abilities of classical musicians to that other music and to bring ideas and sounds of other music into classical music.”
