~Nois Quartet with Diana Leviton Gondek

Think you know what a saxophone quartet sounds like? ~Nois is here to change your mind.

Hailed by Musical America as “the American saxophone quartet du jour,” Chicago’s ~Nois Quartet celebrates its 10th season doing what it does best: pushing four saxophones into places you never expected them to go.

For their Rendezvous Arts debut, ~Nois brings a program as adventurous and versatile as the instrument itself. Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 5 and Paquito d’Rivera’s Wapango bring irresistible rhythmic energy, while a wonderfully unexpected Schumann arrangement reveals an entirely different side of the quartet.

From there, we move firmly into the music of today, with works by Sarah Kirkland Snider, Emma O’Halloran, Augusta Read Thomas, Shelley Washington, and Travis Laplante. These are composers writing with completely different voices, giving ~Nois the chance to move from intimate and atmospheric to playful, explosive, and exhilarating.

Over the past decade, the quartet has premiered more than 120 new works and built a national reputation as an ensemble redefining what the saxophone quartet can be.

Now we get to experience them up close.

Four saxophones. Ten years together. One seriously unexpected hour of music.


Our featured visual artist for this program is Diana Leviton Gondek, a Chicago artist whose work begins with stories.

Drawing from moments and experiences in her own life, Diana creates paintings that invite each viewer to discover their own meaning within them. Her background in watercolor remains an important influence, but her work has evolved to incorporate thin layers of oil and mixed media, creating richly layered pieces that feel personal, expressive, and entirely individual.

Diana studied Fine Arts before becoming an Art Director at Northwestern University and later returning to her own studio practice. Her work has been exhibited throughout Chicago, across the United States, and internationally, and can be found in the permanent collection of the Chicago History Museum.

She has also created public and commissioned work for organizations including Special Olympics, and her art has been featured in numerous exhibitions, publications, and television segments.

Like the music of ~Nois, Diana’s work reminds us how much can happen when familiar forms are seen, heard, and experienced in a completely new way.