The European Saxophone Ensemble is the Cultural Ambassador of the European Union

Few people have a family of instruments named after them. One cannot imagine that there was a human who was called Violin, or Trumpet. Yet in Belgium and with Belgians all is possible. Indeed it is only 200 years ago that Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone. Thus it seems fitting that the EUROPEAN SAXOPHONE ENSEMBLE found roots in Belgium.

The EUROPEAN SAXOPHONE ENSEMBLE seeks out twelve young and highly gifted saxophone players from 12 different EU member states. They perform new compositions written for the occasion by leading European composers. This project allows a broad audience to discover the almost incredible richness of the saxophone family.

The members of the ensemble are chosen by auditioning in the whole of Europe and come from different professional environments. They perform on almost all saxophone types - sopranino, soprano, tenor, alto, baritone and bass, proving that cooperation between music styles is possible. The ensemble has the honour to hold the title of Cultural Ambassador of the European Union.

Besides unifying Europe in a cultural way, our artistic goal is to diminish the barriers between classic, modern and improvisation. The EUROPEAN SAXOPHONE ENSEMBLE covers a wide spectrum of styles: avant-garde-jazz, contemporary, traditional and classical music. The compositions are commissioned from prominent composers from different EU countries: this year the new compositions are by: Massimo Botter (Italy), Tonu Korvits (Estonia) Gyula Fekete (Hungary), Sanne Van Hek (The Netherlands) and the Belgian Fred Vanhove.

“Love” and “Train” are two words given to the composers. Up to them to combine or not, in culture one perhaps should not be too directive, at least not in the field of imagination. Yet with these thematics we do wish to perform in public space, in this case: railway stations. Thus the EUROPEAN SAXOPHONE ENSEMBLE shares this project with even more people. Previous experiments in this field have shown that in 1 hour, one can reach up to 7500 people.

EUROPEAN SAXOPHONE ENSEMBLE was founded in 2008. Because of the powerful idea almost immediately it was distinguished with the title of Cultural Ambassador of the EU. The first CD “Reed Action” was released in 2008. The ensemble toured throughout Europe. In 2010 the EUROPEAN SAXOPHONE ENSEMBLE performed in Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Holland, Germany and Belgium. The concerts are a celebration of what youth, energy, open-mindedness and talent can do! A second CD has been recorded during this tour.

Patrick de Clerck will ‘curate’ the 2011 edition the EUROPEAN SAXOPHONE ENSEMBLE. He was director of KlaraFestival, Ars Musica, and now will run a prestigious festival in Mariinsky theatre for Valery Gergiev.

Conductor is saxophonist, and composer Cezariusz Gadzina. He graduated from the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw - Poland (in the classical saxophone class of American saxophonist David Pituch), the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven - Belgium (in the classical saxophone class of Dutch saxophonist Ed Bogaard) and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels (in the jazz saxophone class of American saxophonist John Ruocco). In the Royal Conservatory in Brussels he studied conducting of symphonic orchestras with British conductor Frank Shipway.

He is the winner of many prizes and distinctions and has performed at many music festivals and venues all over the world. From the year 2000 he has been working with production house MET-X where he is artistic director of Saxafabra and plays in other MET-X projects. He plays many concerts in different formations from trio, quartet, large chamber ensembles to solo concerts as a soloist with symphonic orchestras. The stylistic range of music he plays is impressive: classical, contemporary, jazz, folk, funk,...

The European Saxophone Ensemble

Conductor: Cezariusz Gadzina
Curator: Patrick De Clerck

Miriam Dirr – Germany Sopranino Saxophone
Peter Cverle – Belgium Soprano Saxophone
Jandra Puusepp – Estonia Soprano Saxophone
Julia Schreitl – Austria Alto Saxophone
Rusne Mikiskaite – Lithuania Alto Saxophone
Stefanos Damgaard Sokianos – Danmark Alto Saxophone
Simon Sirec – Slovenia Tenor Saxophone
Manueal Pramotton – Italy Tenor Saxophone
Tereza Kralova – Czech Republic Tenor Saxophone
Zsófia Mészáros – Hungary Baritone Saxophone
Kenny Talkowski – Spain Baritone Saxophone
Menne Smallenbroek – the Netherlands Bass Saxophone

Tour dates 2011
16th of October Poitiers (France)
24th of November Udine (Italy)
25th of November Maribor (Slovenia)
26th of November Vienna (Austria)
27th of November Brno (Czech Republic)
28th of November Slovakia
29th of November Hungary
1st of December Germany
2nd of December The Netherlands
3rd of December Brussels (Belgium)

The European Saxophone Ensemble is a MET-X production. MET-X is a house for and from musicians. They transform sounds from the belly of the city into a unique musical universe. In close collaboration with enthusiastic artists coming from the most different horizons they manufacture the creative elements in order to form bands, events and educational processes.