Abele Saxophone Quartet Honors Black Architect Who Designed Duke Chapel

The ensemble’s first performance inside the Chapel sparked a musical mission rooted in history, place, and sound – and one you can soon experience live

A saxophone quartet poses in a church
Abele Saxophone Quartet formed in 2023 when Duke Lecturing Faculty of Music Susan Fancher was asked to perform in Duke University Chapel. Photo courtesy of Susan Fancher

When Susan Fancher was invited to perform in Duke University Chapel in 2023 with her saxophone quartet, she didn’t let the fact the ensemble was temporarily short two members stand in the way.

“I don’t want to turn down a chance to play in Duke Chapel because it’s such a magical experience to play in that gorgeous space,” said Fancher, a Lecturing Fellow of Music at Duke.

Instead, Fancher quickly called two friends from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Heidi Radtke, who plays tenor saxophone; and Rahsaan Barber, who performs on alto saxophone.

With Fancher on soprano saxophone and her husband and UNC Greensboro professor Mark Engebretson on baritone saxophone, a new quartet was formed and ready to play at the Chapel with one small detail remaining: The name.

After mulling a few ideas that didn’t feel right, Barber suggested the one name that made sense to everyone.

Abele Saxophone Quartet.

With a name in place, the Abele Saxophone Quartet will next perform Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the William S. Newman Artist Series at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Learn More About Julian Abele

Read about the architect who designed many of Duke's buildings.

Julian Abele Spotlight

Duke’s chief architect

Black Architect Julian Abele was the chief designer for the Philadelphia architectural firm of Horace Trumbauer and played a central role in the creation of Duke’s East and West Campuses in the 1920s.

But his contributions were not widely recognized or known until the mid-1980s when Duke students and others brought attention to his role.

In 2016, the main quad on West Campus was renamed in Abele’s honor, with a marker on the quad’s busiest pathway providing a reminder of Abele’s crucial role in creating Duke’s signature style. Abele Quad goes from the steps leading to the Clocktower Quad to the steps leading to the Davison Quad and north to the Chapel Quad.

Julian Abele
Julian Abele

More than 30 buildings and spaces designed by Abele are a part of Abele Quad, including West Union, Perkins and Rubenstein Libraries – and Duke University Chapel.

“Julian Abele brought the idea of Duke University to life,” Duke President Richard H. Brodhead said when Abele Quad was dedicated in 2016. “It is an astonishing fact that, in the deepest days of racial segregation, a Black architect designed the beauty of this campus. Now, everyone who lives, works, studies and visits the heart of Duke’s campus will be reminded of Abele’s role in its creation.”

Even though Barber teaches at UNC, he understood the significance and importance of naming the quartet after the person who designed the very space where Abele Saxophone Quartet performed for the first time.

“We saw it as an opportunity to bring further light to that,” Barber said.

Musicians as architects

In Barber’s view, the Abele Saxophone Quartet are custodians of a significant name from Duke’s history that connects the group to a place that has special meaning.

“To me, there’s a connection between architecture and music,” he said, “and I think everyone in the quartet sees it (the Chapel) as a very special house for our musical voices.”

The Abele Saxophone Quartet is still in its nascent days as a group but has already performed a repertoire that includes classical saxophone pieces and more modern, improvisational-based music. And in November 2025, Abele Saxophone Quartet collaborated on a project of three new pieces with Duke graduates Erich Barganier and Chris Williams and Duke Professor of Art, Bill Seaman.

Abele Saxophone Quartet
Duke Lecturing Fellow Susan Fancher on soprano saxophone, Mark Engebretson on baritone saxophone, Rahsaan Barber on alto saxophone and Heidi Radtke on tenor saxophone perform as Abele Saxophone Quartet. Photo by Nick Zoulek courtesy of Susan Fancher

The quartet is building something, just as Julian Abele did, Barber said.

“I’ve always described my favorite musicians as architects for how they build sound with such intention and purpose and style and function,” he said.

The group has performed in the Chapel just once so far, but it will forever be the foundation upon which they formed Abele Saxophone Quartet, and the inspiration for their meaningful name.

“If you just go in there and just sit and be around all that beauty it's just a wonderful experience and it's very moving just to be in that space,” Fancher said.

And even if that name happened to be suggested by a UNC professor, the origin isn’t important.

“We have all shades of blue here,” Fancher said. “We don't seem to have any of that UNC-Duke rivalry going on.”

Added Barber: “To me, music is one of the great uniters.”

For information about future Abele Saxophone Quartet performances, contact Susan Fancher at susan.fancher@duke.edu.

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