I was so excited when I got invited to join the Auckland Saxophone Ensemble last year! It’s such a fantastic group of classical saxophone players, and they started playing together in June.
I was honoured to join them for the Christmas concert, mostly on soprano saxophone (and alto for one piece). This concert had two parts: in the first part, we played a Christmas-inspired programme, including a demanding and expressive repertoire.
In the second part, we invited saxophone players of all levels to join us in playing some Christmas pieces, and it was amazing to be with around 40 saxophonists of all ages and saxophone types coming together for a special moment of music-making.
The concert program was:
Part I
- Troika from “Lieutenant Kijé” (Sergey Prokofiev, arr. Takahide Sato)
- Petites Litanies de Jesus (Gabriel Grovlez, arr. Michael Jamieson)
- Selections from ‘The Nutcracker’ Suite (Petr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, arr. James Crockford/Michael Jamieson)
- Blithe Bells (Percy Grainger, arr. Takahide Sato)
- Adagio in G minor – Albinoni (Remo Giazotto, arr. Alain Crepin)
- Dance of the Tumblers from The Snow Maiden (Petr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, arr. Takahide Sato)
Part II
- German Dance K. 605, No. 3 (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, arr. David Bussick)
- Christmas Carols for Saxophone Sextet (arr. Kayleigh Huelin):
Ding Dong Merrily on High
In the Bleak Midwinter
O Come All Ye Faithful
Silent Night - Sir Patrick (arr. Philippe Geiss)
- Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson, arr. Takahide Sato)
The players of the Auckland Saxophone Ensemble for this concert:
Takahide Sato, soprano saxophone.
Pablo Torrealba, soprano and alto saxophones.
Chad Davenport, alto and soprano saxophones.
Nicola Chester, alto saxophone.
Alex Eichelbaum, tenor saxophone.
Tomomi Johnston, tenor saxophone.
Michael Jamieson, baritone saxophone.
Gustav Voigt, baritone saxophone.
Special guests: Tomomi Buma, percussion, and all the saxophone players who attended!
This concert was on November 30 in the Somervell Presbyterian Church, Remuera.
If you want to take a little taste of the flavour of this concert you can visit this Facebook video published by the New Zealand Saxophone Society Inc:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GwxkadjuR
