A celebration of new and experimental works, Augustana College's Shockingly Modern Saxophone Festival, on February 21 and 22, will boast solo and chamber pieces that explore the sonic potential of the sax through improvisation, electronics, and multi-media, with festival founder and artistic director Dr. Randall Hall saying, “There are many saxophone festivals and many new music festivals, but as far as I know, this is the only event in the United States dedicated specifically to new music for saxophone.”

Singer/songwriter and guitarist Christopher Paul Stelling brings his intimate live show to Rozz-Tox on February 23, as part of a tour following the release of his new album Best of Luck, which landed on February 7.

Praised by Smooth Jazz Therapy as “a major player on the contemporary jazz scene,” the gifted saxophonist, flautist, and vocalist Paula Atherton headlines Great Sounds Promotions' latest Smooth Jazz Valentines Concert at Davenport's Redstone Room, the February 14 event sure to demonstrate why The Smooth Jazz Ride lauded the artist for her “stylish, sleek, and energetic talents.”

With The New Yorker deeming the group “an ensemble of eloquent intensity” and “one of the mainstays of the American chamber-music scene,” the gifted musicians of the Jupiter String Quartet appear as special guests in the WVIK/QCSO Signature Series, their February 15 performance at Augustana College's Centennial Hall sure to deliver what the Boston Classical Review called “an intensely alert investigation of the musical possibilities in each work.”