The 7th edition of the Liceu Sax Festival, organised by the Fundació Conservatori Liceu and sponsored by Yamaha, took place from 20 to 22 March at the Liceu Conservatory. Festival participants enjoyed three action-packed days of saxophone-related activities: masterclasses, concerts, workshops, panel discussions and a variety of other events.
This year’s edition featured artists such as Otis Murphy, Anja Nedremo, Luz Koppetsch, Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Carla Obach, David Salellas, Danilo Russo, Carlos Ordoñez and Albert Julià, the festival’s artistic director and professor and head of the Conservatory’s Chamber Music Department.
The concerts offered a varied and enriching experience. The opening concert provided a musical journey through various styles of the saxophone repertoire, from Fernande Decruck’s sonata to Piazzolla’s tango and Gershwin’s symphonic jazz, featuring renowned soloists and ensembles from the Liceu Sax Festival.
On the second day of the Festival, the 21st, the Junior Sax Festival took place, a day dedicated to young saxophonists, with more than 75 children taking part. The young people had the opportunity to take part in various activities throughout the day, culminating in a concert at the Auditori del Conservatori Liceu. The second half of the concert featured soloists Albert Julià, Anja Nedremo, Danilo Russo, Jean-Yves Fourmeau and Otis Murphy, accompanied by the Barcelona Sax Project, the Liceu Sax Ensemble and the Liceu Sax Ensemble chamber group. The repertoire included works by T. Mashima, M. Bruch, D. Milhaud and R. Molinelli, offering a diverse selection ranging from masterful concerts to much more expressive pieces, demonstrating the great versatility and expressiveness of the saxophone.
Finally, the third day of the Festival concluded with the closing concert, which featured performances by leading soloists alongside the Liceu Sax Festival Ensemble, comprising saxophone students from the Conservatoire and students from the Ensemble Workshop, bringing together all the festival participants. The programme featured notable works such as Fire in the Earth by D. Maslanka, Romance by A. Beach, Sabre Dance by A. Khachaturian, Scenarium by D. Salleras, Le Tambourin de Couperin by M. Ravel and Ruslan and Ludmila by M. Glinka.
In addition to the various masterclasses, the programme included more informal gatherings such as “l’Hora del Cafè”, during which participants were able to chat with three of the guest artists: Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Anja Nedremo and Otis Murphy. An exhibition of Yamaha instruments was also set up in the Live Room at the Liceu Conservatory during the Festival.
Since its inception in 2014, the Liceu Sax Festival has established itself as a pioneering initiative in the field of education, committed to the dissemination and promotion of saxophone teaching and performance. The festival has succeeded in attracting an enthusiastic audience and has featured the participation of leading saxophonists such as Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Pawel Gusnar, Xavier Larsson, Otis Murphy, Nicolas Prost, Nobuya Sugawa, Kenneth Tse, Iñaki Bermúdez, Carla Obach, Albert Julià and Marc Vilanova. An event which, once again this year, has brought the saxophone community together in a celebration of music and learning, cementing its reputation as an essential meeting place for all lovers of this instrument.