Aside from his teaching career, Pray maintains an active performance schedule, regularly appearing with the Adirondack Wind Ensemble (AWE), Frontier Saxophone Quartet, and Adirondack Jazz Orchestra (AJO). It was in preparation for the first AWE performance that Mr. Gordon and Mr. Pray began discussing the formation of a professional saxophone quartet, which soon became the Frontier Quartet. Pray also appears periodically as guest soloist, conductor, or woodwind player for a wide variety of ensembles. He has been fortunate enough to play in Alice Tully Hall at New York City's Lincoln Center, and other performances with various ensembles have taken him on tours through Maryland, Virginia, and New York State.
Mr. Pray received his Master's Degree in Saxophone Performance and Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the Ithaca College School of Music in Ithaca, NY, while studying with Dr. Steven Mauk. He also holds an Associate's Degree in Music Education and Performance from Schenectady County Community College in Schenectady, NY, where he studied with saxophonist, clarinetist, and conductor Mr. Brett Wery.
Gordon's associations with the other performers in the quartet go back many years. Todd Pray is a charter member of the saxophone section in the Adirondack Wind Ensemble, a professional performing ensemble that Gordon founded in 2002. Gordon has worked with Pray's former teacher, Steven Mauk, on several projects over the last 25 years. Linda Sullivan was Gordon's immediate predecessor as director of the Plattsburgh State Symphonic Band and is another charter member of the Adirondack Wind Ensemble's saxophone section. And Gordon and Gary Scavone were undergraduates together at Syracuse University in the mid 1980s, where, inspired by their admiration and respect for their teacher, Ronald Caravan, they spent hour after hour playing duets in the basement of Crouse College. A few years later, they took that act on the road and traveled together as street musicians through 13 European countries over two summers. Gordon's book about those experiences, Sax on the Streets: Confessions of an American Street Musician in Europe, was recently published by SynergEbooks. It can be purchased online at writeronlinebooks.com.