Equivox Trio Recordings & Publications Summer School Contact Links
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| Biography Forthcoming Events Apollo Saxophone Quartet Gallery Equivox Trio Recordings & Publications Summer School Contact Links |
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robbuckland.com How can it possibly be August already?! I don't seem to have stopped since I wrote the last welcome
April saw a lovely trip to Macao, to play with the Macao Chamber Orchestra and conductor En Shao. I played the Glazunov Concerto - always a treat - and two of my own arrangements, one of some Morricone, and a new arrangement that I made the day before the concert (!) of a beautiful Piazzolla melody for Soprano Sax, Guitar and Orchestra - the other soloist on the concert was guitarist Yang Xuefei, and we decided at the last minute to play something together. Thankfully it all worked fine! Macao is an extraordinary place, still full of Portuguese influences, but now growing daily into the gambling capital of the world, already with more casinos that Las Vegas, and still building more! I've also done two concert, (one with the RLPO and another with the Hallé Orchestra), with conductor John Wilson and soloist Kim Criswell, performing the songs of the Hollywood divas - everything from Doris Day to Barbara Streisand, all with the original MGM scores beautifully restored by John Wilson and Andrew Cottee, amongst others. Such a pleasure to play the fantastic tunes exactly as they were conceived. If you see one of these shows advertised near you, I urge you to get hold of some tickets - they're quite something! The Apollo Quartet gave three concerts with the Goldberg String Ensemble, conducted by Malcolm Layfield as part of the Goldberg's contemporary series in May, performing a new commission from Barry Guy - Convergence - and only the second series of performances of his Mobile Herbarium - without doubt one of the most demanding works we have had to play. Tim, Andy and I were joined by Carl Raven on Baritone, who did an amazing job on a very short amount of rehearsal! We're playing a re-working of this amazing music at Colourscape on Clapham Common on 23rd September this year. Come along for what will be an extraordinary sensory experience - Barry's incredible music and the out of this world experience of moving between rooms totally saturated in all colours of the spectrum. (Visit: www.chiltern.demon.co.uk/COLOURSCAPE/DIARY.html for info). June saw me throwing myself into final recital preparation for my students at RNCM, and I finally found some much needed time to get on with some more writing. I completed another chart for my new CD project slated to early 2008 - I'm planning to record a new CD of original music with my new jazz group, something I've been wanting to do for ages....fingers crossed! I also completed some more commercial tracks too, and started a new piece for the Equivox Trio for a concert at the end of next month. In July, Andy Scott and I played his Dark Rain concerto at the WASBE Conference in Killarney, with the fantastic students from Chetham's School of Music, Manchester under the baton of Dave Chatterton. (Incidentally, I am about to start a new post of Saxophone Consultant to Chetham's - something I am looking to very much, working with some extraordinarily talented young players). My International Summer School, (now in it's 9th year) at Woldingham School near Croydon, sponsored by Jonathan Myall Music, was a great success, with 18 participants this year from all parts of the country, and from all backgrounds. Apart from all the great saxophone playing, I love this week because I get to meet some really interesting people of all ages and backgrounds. Iwas joined this year as usual by Andy Scott, and for the first time by one of my ex-students Fiona Asbury - Fiona is a fantastic young player, who is really making a name for herself winning all sorts of competitions, and she did a great job on the course this year, really throwing herself into the course. (check out her website fionaasbury.com). There are some new photos from the course in the Gallery, most of them from the Jazz Night! Following the course, I went straight into the Proms, with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and soloist Håken Hardenberger on Trumpet - what an amazing musician he is. I was playing in the Gruber Trumpet Concerto "Aerial", without doubt one of the most demanding orchestral saxophone parts I have ever come across! You can probably listen again on the BBC Radio 3 site. I've also just done a great gig with the Steve Williams Quintet at the Cinnamon Club in Altrincham, nr Manchester - what a fantastic band, and so nice to see drummer Steve Gilbert back behind the kit. Long may that continue! The Harrogate Summer School is looming - all the usual classes and concerts making for a great week of all things saxophonic, directed by Andy Scott, including a guest appearance from Ingrid Laubrock. (In addition to all the usual saxophone masterclasses and coaching sessions, I'm also giving a jazz flute class for the second year running on the flute course that runs alongside the sax course!!!). I'll be at the Sage in Gateshead on 9th September, playing Walton's wonderful Facade with the Northern Sinfonia, and then all hands on deck for the start of a new term at RNCM, where we welcome Julian Arguelles as our new consultant in Jazz Saxophone, complementing the excellent work that Mike Hall does with all of our students on top of their classical training. I'm also delighted to welcome Carl Raven to the department, where he will take on some of the teaching duties that Andy has made available now that he is so busy writing. Andy will still be a key part of the department of course, increasing his involvement in classes and coaching, of course bringing his expertise on the Tenor to our students, and let's not forget the excellent job Ruth Darby is doing building our Junior School department. All in all the RNCM Saxophone department is now arguably one of the finest and most active in Europe. Which leads nicely onto the 7th RNCM Saxophone Day, this year with guests Andy Sheppard, with his new quartet, and the Habanera Quartet from France joining the RNCM Saxophone tutor for a day of classes, concerts and workshops - still the UK's biggest annual saxophone event! (Check out rncm.ac.uk for info). John Sylvester (saxophone emporium - who I bought my fabulous Selmer Mark VI Soprano from many years ago) has set up a great new website saxtrader.co.uk which has everything for the modern sax player - a site where you can buy and sell your saxes, look for mouthpieces, buy and sell CDs, research courses, colleges, teachers, etc..basically everything you need in one place, a bit like a yellow pages for the sax player…I urge you to check it out, and tell your friends…it could really become a vital forum for all sax players! Stay healthy, stay happy, get out to as many concerts as you can. Hope to see you at a concert soon!
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