Oberlin Portrait: Paul Cohen Story by Michael Chipman Photos by John Seyfried
	News and features about the Conservatory Preview CD's released by faculty, staff & students Past articles from the Oberlin Portrait		Paul Cohen, professor of saxophone, is one of the strongest voices among those striving to bring the saxophone into the mainstream of classical music performance. He owns one of the world's largest private collections of saxophones, and his To The Fore Publishing Company offers an extensive catalog of his arrangements and settings for saxophone ensemble as well as original, historical and contemporary saxophone works from selected composers. As a historian, he frequently presents lectures on saxophone, illustrating his talks with rare instruments, manuscripts and archival material from his extensive private collection. Cohen is active as a performer, teacher, historian, musicologist and author in all areas related to the saxophone. He has appeared as a soloist with many of the nation's top symphonies and professional ensembles, including the San Francisco Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra and New York Solisti, among many others. He has recorded three albums with the Cleveland Symphonic Wind, a CD of the music of Villa-Lobos with the Quintet of the Americas, and recordings with the Saxophone Sinfonia, New York Solisti, Paul Winter Consort, North-South Consonance and the new Sousa Band. His two most recent recordings include an environmental-jazz CD of solo improvisation, and the newly discovered saxophone concerto of the 19th-century American composer Caryl Florio. Along with his appointment at Oberlin, Cohen teaches as the Manhattan School of Music and NYU. Cohen has published numerous articles on saxophone literature and history in noted publications, including "Saxophone Journal," "Clarinet and Saxophone Society Magazine of Great Britain," "The Grainger Society Journal" and the North American Saxophone Alliance's quarterly publication, the "Saxophone Symposium." Since 1985 he has authored the informative "Vintage Saxophone Revisited" column in the "Saxophone Journal." What is your first memory of music? Playing in my junior high school band. How old were you when you started musical training? I was in second grade when I began to study piano, fourth grade when I began studies saxophone. What inspired you to be a musician? I came from a very musical family. My mother sang; my father played violin and put himself through law school during the Depression as a violinist. My brothers played clarinet and tuba. Music was just something that was always there. What keeps you inspired on discouraging days? The rapt passion of the music that illuminates my life. What is the most memorable performance you have ever seen and why? One of the most memorable performances came with the New Jersey Symphony in Carnegie Hall. We were playing an all-Bernstein concert as a tribute to Bernstein, who was in attendance. I played in two works, "Suite from On the Waterfront" and "Symphonic Dances" from West Side Story. During intermission, Bernstein came backstage where many members of the orchestra, including myself, were waiting. After lighting up a cigarette, he spotted me near the stage, came over to me and said "Beautiful sax solos, especially the soft ones." This is an experience I will never forget. If you could perform with one musician living or dead, who would it be and what would you perform? I would like to perform with George Szell in concerti by Glazonov, Dahl and Martin. If you could master another instrument, what would it be? Cello or bassoon. If you couldn't be a musician what profession would you choose? Environmental science. Which profession would you definitely not choose? Financial Analyst. What do you listen to after a long day? If I need spiritual nourishment, I listen to 20th-century American music. As an outlet for frustrations or anxiety, I listen to jazz or folk. Other times I listen to Baroque or Renaissance music. What do you like to read? History and historical fiction. Three words that describe you: Dedicated, contemplative, intuitive.