Courtroom Concert: Trés: piano-saxophone trio

Hosted by composer Abbie Betinis, our popular Courtroom Concerts take place at noon most Thursdays in the Landmark Center in downtown Saint Paul. This series features accomplished musicians and composers from the Twin Cities and surrounding area, as well as occasional musical newcomers to the area. These one-hour concerts are free and open to the public.

About the Artists:

Ryan Smith is a multiple woodwind player specializing in saxophone, flute, clarinet, and recorder. He lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and performs regularly throughout the Midwest. Depending on the week, you might find him playing show tunes with the pit orchestra at Theatre Cedar Rapids, jazz standards with the Blake Shaw Biggish Band, or recently-composed classical works with Durward New Music Ensemble. He also performs with Orchestra Iowa, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, various chamber ensembles, and an occasional rock or indie-pop band. He was nominated for both a Grammy and a Latin Grammy award in 2023 for his work with Miguel Zenón and Minneapolis-based chamber ensemble, Trés.

Ryan serves on the board of Rapson Collaborative–an Iowa City-based non-profit arts organization with the mission of supporting original musical projects that explore critical social issues. The organization aims to foster collaborations between artists and audiences with an emphasis on projects that tell marginalized histories, support underrepresented artists, and engage diverse communities. For information on applying for a grant, please visit rapsoncollaborative.org.

Ryan earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 2018. He now teaches applied woodwinds and improvisation at Grinnell College and Cornell College while maintaining private studios in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. Fostering meaningful relationships with his students and helping them navigate both the technical demands and the emotional challenges of authentic musical expression has made teaching a deeply satisfying and rewarding part of his life.

Pianist Casey Rafn enjoys a varied career as a collaborative pianist both in the United States and abroad. He is the current pianist for VocalEssence and also plays for contemporary masses at the Basilica of St. Mary. Casey often collaborates in concert or in recordings with members of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and University of Minnesota School of Music faculty. As a piano soloist he took top prizes at the International Liszt-Garrison Competition in Baltimore, has appeared with the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra.

Grammy Nominated and McKnight Fellow, José A. Zayas Cabán has presented performances and taught master classes throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and North America. A native Puerto Rican (born and raised in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico) and musician activist, José now resides in Minneapolis, MN and is building an artistic career focused on developing projects, albums, and collaborations that address, respond, and raise awareness about current events and social issues.

Winner of the 2019 New Music USA Project Grant, José has finished a collaboration with multiple Grammy Winning Artist and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón on a work titled El País Invisible (The Invisible Nation, 2019). The composition reflects on the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States Empire.

That album’s commissioned piece El País Invisible, by Miguel Zenón, received a 2022 Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Composition. Most recently, he and his trio {Trés} produced Romance al Campesino Porteño (2023) and received a 2023 Latin Grammy Best Instrumental Album nomination nomination.

In addition, José is developing a project with Angélica Negrón as the recipient of the McKnight Visiting Composer Fellowship that will result in a new composition titled Pedacito de Tierra (Little Piece of Land) Influenced by the work of Rafael Tufiño, and photographer Erika Rodriguez. Pedacito de Tierra will celebrate Puerto Rico’s stories and struggles. The collaboration with Angélica Negrón and Miguel Zenón is part of a larger, long term, project called Puerto Rico se Re-Inventa.

His debut album, Centennial, commemorates the women’s suffrage movement and the ratification of the 19th amendment in August 1920. It includes music by Kinds of Kingscomposers Gemma Peacocke (Skin, 2016) and Shelley Washington (Big Talk, 2016), as well as trios by Amanda Feery (Gone to Earth, 2018) and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (Trio, Op. 11, 1846).

José is the co-founder of the Chamber Music Trio {Trés}, which was started as a collaborative project by José and Colin Young with the purpose of creating transcriptions and commissioning new works for a two saxophone and piano ensemble to perform. The trio has since performed chamber music by a wide range of composers in Central America, the Caribbean, and throughout the United States. In the wake of Hurricanes Irma and María, {Trés} finished a national tour (2018) titled A Tribute to Puerto Rico to help raise funds and awareness about Puerto Rico and the island’s efforts to recover from the hurricanes. In November 2019, the trio completed its first residency in Puerto Rico.

José is a D’Addario, LefreQue and Yamaha Artist.