May 2010
Saxophone on Australian radio
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music Saxophone Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Duke, will be performing a concert of saxophone ensemble music. The concert is going to be broadcast on ABC, Australia's classical music radio network. You can hear the concert live via the internet, Sunday May 2 at 11PM (EST) [That’s 1PM Monday May 3rd in Australia).
The program has an international flavour to it, with works by Katia Beaugeais (Australia), Ed Martin (USA), Jane O'Leary (Ireland), Robert Lemay (Canada) & Claire Loveday (South Africa).
You can hear the concert by following this link for the streaming page.
April 2010
Adamcyk - Devant l'azur
The Radio-Canada web site has a recording of the premiere of David Adamcyk's Devant l'azur, which was premiered last month during a concert by the SMCQ. The piece written for soprano, tenor saxophone and piano was performed by Julieanne Klein (soprano), Zasha Di Castro (piano) and tenor saxophonist Adam Kinner.
Other pieces also available to listen to from that particular concert, which was part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Quebec composer Gilles Tremblay's career include a solo piano piece by one of Tremblay's former student, Michel Gonneville and thee works by the master himself: Solstices ou Les jours et les saisons tournent (1971), Musiques de l'eau (2008), and Envoi (1982). The SMCQ (Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec) is conducted by its musical director (a composer and sax player himself) Walter Boudreau.
Hindemith Trio
The "Orchestre de Paris" has a nice video clip of performances and commentaries (in French) by the members of Trio Futurama about their recital of Paul Hindemith music.
Member of the trio inlcude (Misaki Baba (piano), Benachir Boukhatem (viola) and Clément Himbert (sax)
Some back relief for all
An interesting article for everyone who has issues with back and neck problems from lugging around big saxes. A British bass sax player, Jim Barrett, is working with an ergonomic design specialist in designing a new harness. He says that the expert advice of Judith Hill has "ease the back pain he suffers from playing a bass saxophone".
Ms Hill will be presenting a paper about her work at the Annual conference of the Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors (IEHF) at Keele University tomorrow (April 14, 2010). She is also in discussion with a company to develop a new model of harness.
Something to keep an eye on for the future.
Saxophone Ensemble List
I have just updated the Saxophone New Works Wiki with a list of saxophone ensemble pieces. The list contains 642 pieces as of this writing.
You can check the list for saxophone ensemble pieces by following the link.
March 2010
Bass Saxophone Concerto
Oh! Did I say bass saxophone concerto? What I really meant was Bass Saxophones Concerto. Actually many bass saxophones, as in FOUR bass saxophones.
An amazing presentation clip about Xavier Carbonell's Lalibela, a concerto for 4 bass saxophones and symphony orchestra.
Performed by the Sigma Project Quartet. The presentation is in Spanish, but even if you don't understand the language, the visuals and sounds are worth a watch. What a sight.
JacobTV on WQXR
WQXR is presenting a series around Dutch composer Jacob Ter Veldhuis (aka JacobTV). Interviews and performances are on the schedule. You can find short clips of comments by Veldhuis about some of his music, including works for saxophone such as: Billie, Buku, The Garden of Love, Grab It!, Heartbreakers, Jesus is Coming, and the Tallahatchie Concerto as the following clip demonstrates.
January 2010
Prism Quartet's 25th Anniversary
Congratulations to the Prism Saxophone Quartet which is celebrating 25 years of performing and commissioning.
They are presently performing several concerts to celebrate this achievement, in Philadelphia, Boston and New york. In addition they have also launched their newest CD: Beneath Breath. They are planning more CD's later this year.
The anniversary has also been noticed by mainstream media. You can read several good write ups in:
- "Helping the Sax Find a Classical Home" by Vivien Schweitzer in the New York Times
- "A quartet that is so much more than 4 saxophones" by Tom Di Nardo in the Philadelphia Daily News
- "Creatively defying sax stereotypes" by David Patrick Steams in The Philadelphia Inquirer
- "Opera & Classical - Album Review" by Olivia Giovetti in New York's Time Out
- "Prism Quartet celebrates 25th Anniversary at LPR on 1/31" by Christian Carey in Sequenza 21
Several notable composers such as John Adams, William Albright, William Bolcom, Steven Mackey and Bright Sheng were mentioned in these articles.
The present edition of the quartet includes: Tim McAllister (soprano sax), Zachary Shemon (alto sax), Matt Levy (tenor sax) & Taimur Sullivan (baritone sax).
Massenet's Werther Live on the web
Arte live will be presenting Jules Massenet's opera, Werther, live on the web tomorrow, Jan. 26, 2010 at 2:30PM EST.
-What has this got to do with the saxophone?
Glad you asked. Premiered in 1892, Werther is one of the operas which includes an alto saxophone in the orchestra pit.
Arte TV is broadcasting a live performance of this great work from the Opéra La Bastille in Paris with a live feed to it's web site. (Aren't you glad you live in the 21st Century). If you miss the live performance, it seems Arte TV will have it available on demand afterward.
Tomorrow's performance will be conducted by Michel Plasson with Jonas Kaufmann in the lead role, and Sophie Koch as Charlotte.
Archie Shepp on Arte TV
Just found this gorgeous video of the incomparable Archie Shepp on the Arte TV web site. Still going strong, he seems to be enjoying himself in this bluesy performance.
Vintage ads
Fascinating site provides pictures of vintage posters including some with ads for or including saxophones and saxophonists. All this and much more at the Vintage Ad Browser.
Saxophone Competition
Recently received a note from Jean-Louis Petit about the Concours International de Saxophone which will be held in Paris next March 2010.
You can find further information at this site: http://jean_louis.petit.perso.sfr.fr/concours/concours.html
Welcome to 2010
We finally made it. It's 2010. Happy New Year to everyone.
I haven't posted in quite some time. So busy. Hopefully, I'll be able to talk a little more about some interesting things I've been developing. But that is for another post.
Today, I would just like to start the new year off on the right foot. And what better way to do that than to share a video clip. The New Century Saxophone Quartet have posted some very entertaining clips of themselves in a particular setting. Here's an example of their presentation, a forest performance of Russell Peck's Drastic Measures.
Enjoy and have yourself a great 2010.