The Nova Saxophone Quartet he has recorded on the Musical Heritage Society, Crystal and Equilibrium labels. Founding member Richard (Rick) Lawn is retired as Dean of the College of Performing Arts at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia (www.uarts.edu).

Prior to moving to Philadelphia he was the Founding Director of Jazz Studies, Chair of the Department of Music, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the Texas faculty Rick was Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Iowa. Rick holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Eastman School of Music where his principal teachers were Rayburn Wright, Bill Dobbins, Chuck Mangione and William Osseck. Grants from the National Endowment of the Arts have supported his work as a composer

Outside the Box features new works by Rick Lawn (Three Sketches for Saxophone Quartet) and Mike Titlebaum as well as classic works arranged for quartet ranging from J.S. Bach to Paul Hindemith, Russell Howland and Rudy Wiedoeft.