A Perfect Program for Your Perfect Season
Picking a strong program for a concert starts with a global respect for past artists as well as the courage to look forward at current repertory. As an instrument just beginning to find its own after decades in French military music, New Orleans jazz bands, and general American pop expressions, the saxophone, and, by extension, the saxophone quartet, is uniquely positioned to present new concert repertory.
Why? Decades of classical pedagogy is finally taking the saxophone beyond existing stereotypes to broader respect as a legitimate concert instrument. At GLQ, there are so many pedagogues we lean on for our artistic approach today. In France, the birthplace of the instrument, we have Marcel Mule, Daniel Deffayet, Claude Delangle, and now Nicolas Arsenijevic. Sigurd Rascher delivers a compelling expression of classical technique in Germany. In the US, we have Frederick L. Hemke and Eugene Rousseau as the two emeritus luminaries guiding our craft.
All of them guide an approach that balances programming pragmatism with a certain compulsion to advance new music created for our instrument. Just like any large orchestra planner, we at GLQ recognize big composer names fill seats. We thus build our core repertory around this reality. At the same time, concert saxophone players often take on extremely challenging contemporary works other instruments may not need to incorporate in their repertory due to a more lengthy composition history. At GLQ, this rigorous background leaves us positioned to accept challenging contemporary works that advance understanding of what is possible in classical music, yet still touches our hearts. We feel compelled to share both approaches with our audiences.
Building a concert program starts with a meeting. Conflicts in programming against other concerts in your season should be discussed. Aesthetic ideals should get understood. Dates and marketing strategies deserve detailed consideration. Contact us to discover how Gold Line Quartet can augment your next concert season.