Quasar – Saxoctet at Bourgie Hall – October 24, 2024 LiveEvents October 18, 2024 304 Quasar – Saxoctet Quasar celebrates its 30th anniversary alongside the renowned Stockholm Saxophone Quartet. After successful collaborations in 2019 and 2021, the 8 saxophonist-virtuosos are back together with a new program that will also be performed 3 times in Sweden. In addition to two new works commissioned from Gordon Williamson (CA) and Martina Tommer (SE), Quasar also seizes the opportunity to pay tribute to the late José Evangelista by presenting his Saxoctet. Artists Quasar Known for their energy and bold innovation, the four members of Quasar have been exploring the innumerable facets of musical creation since the group’s founding in 1994. The group’s ventures include instrumental music, improvisation, and electronics. Whether solo or accompanied by a symphony orchestra, acoustic or plugged-in, Quasar offers its audience a unique and deeply original programming. The ensemble has been awarded 10 OPUS prizes by the Conseil québécois de la musique, including “Artist of the Year”. Quasar presents a series of concerts each season in Montreal while performing extensively across Canada, Mexico, the United States and Europe. It has been invited to international festivals including: Busan Maru (Korea), Ars Musica (Brussels), SALT Festival (Victoria), and Tonlagen (Dresden). Truly a driving force of musical creation, the quartet works closely with composers favouring research, experimentation and the proliferation of unprecedented ideas. Marie-Chantal Leclair, soprano saxophone Mathieu Leclair, alto saxophone André Leroux, tenor saxophone Jean-Marc Bouchard, baritone saxophone Stockholm Saxophone Quartet The Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, formed in 1969, has made a speciality of chamber music for saxophone – by composers from at home and abroad. They also specialise in advanced electro-acoustic music. The members of the Quartet have had over 700 works written for them. A recurrent feature of their work is the close collaboration they undertake with Swedish and foreign composers, as well as with the composers of the future, particularly at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. The members of the Quartet hold seminars, take part in concerts and work together with artists in genres other than their own. This approach to their work has meant that their style and skills have rapidly developed and they now belong among Sweden’s foremost interpretative artists in their particular, very wide- ranging, field. The Stockholm Saxophone Quartet is driven by an irrepressible desire continually to test and go beyond the boundaries of what is considered possible in artistic terms. They often perform at international festivals, in opera houses and concert halls. Mathias Karlsen Björnstad, soprano saxophone Jörgen Pettersson, alto saxophone Theo Hillborg, tenor saxophone Linn Persson, baritone saxophone Program José EVANGELISTA Saxoctet (1985) pour octuor de saxophones Gordon WILLIAMSON Création (2024) pour octuor de saxophones Martina TOMMER Création (2024) pour octuor de saxophones Jenny HETTNE Swirls and Shades (2019) pour octuor de saxophones Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 7:30pm To purchase your tickets, visit: www.mbam.qc.ca/en/bourgie-hall/
