Saxophone with Cole B.

Dr. Cole D. Belt's passion for collaborative art has resulted in the participation and/or formation of several distinguished chamber ensembles throughout his career including the Aeolus Saxophone Quartet, Duo Velocipede, Mana Quartet, Impression Saxophone Ensemble, and Singularity. Through his involvement with these groups Cole has been heard in concert halls across the U.S. and Europe in masterclass settings, competitions, music festival residencies, chamber series, and guest artist recitals. Regarding his recent Carnegie Hall debut Cole has been described as "a splendid performer who brings wonderful spirit and life to my music" by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Charles Wuorinen and by Curtis Institute composer David Ludwig as "at once sensitive, nuanced, brash, and daring: all depending on the demands of the music."  As an undergraduate, Cole traveled with the Aeolus Saxophone Quartet to perform world premieres of Jens Marggraf's Three Dances in Germany and Poland as guest artists. He then returned to Poland, during his Masters degree at Florida State University, for five more concerts with the Impression Saxophone Ensemble at international chamber music festivals. Praised by composer Neil Anderson-Himmelspach for their "precision of rhythms, intonation, clarity of articulation, and sensitivity to radical shifts of mood..." Duo Velocipede is a salient combination of flute and saxophone. They had their inaugural performance at the Biennial Festival of New Music in early 2013. Since then, they have continued to perform around Florida, Georgia, and recently performed a guest artist recital at Harford College in Aberdeen, Maryland.  Anderson-Himmelspach in currently writing a concerto for the Duo. Singularity performed first for the International Ligeti Festival and Symposium in 2013 where they collaborated with Lukas Ligeti on his quartet Frozen State of Song. Since then they have performed for Michael Maccaferri, clarinetist for the three time Grammy winning sextet eighth blackbird, who praised them for their "...unfaltering rhythmic precision and razor sharp ensemble playing with a sensitive and thoughtful interpretation of the score..." in regard  to their championing of Pulitzer Prize winning composer Charles Wuorinen's Quartet. Singularity made their Carnegie Hall debut in May of 2015. Cole is a D'Addario Performing Artist and uses Reserve Classic Reeds, exclusively.