The National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain
The National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain (NSC) is a pioneering ensemble of forty talented players who aim to encourage new writing for the sax and introduce it to new audiences. Its unique line-up of eight saxes (from the miniscule soprillo to the majestic tubax) is a feature which has generated huge interest in the saxophone world and attracts a fascinated public.
The NSC's musical director and conductor is Nigel Wood, who recruited the choir's first members in 2002 through Saxtet Publications' website. SXP has supported the choir ever since by providing music and publicity, but its musical contribution goes well beyond the supply of scores: with its unique instrumentation and multiple parts (16 for principals alone) there is no published repertoire for the sax choir, so all its music is composed or arranged specifically for it - an enormously demanding and time-consuming process managed single-handedly by Nigel, and effectively subsidized by SXP.
A great deal more information, including sound clips, can be found at the NSC's innovative website, www.saxchoir.com, designed and operated by Pocketsite Design to facilitate all aspects of choir administration, including music distribution and programme planning.
2007 overview; onwards and upwards
"A fabulous performance"... "excellent and brilliant concert"... "outstanding skill"... "full of passion" – hosts of the NSC on its Far East tour were generous in acknowledging the impression made by the choir, hailing the opportunities for cultural exchange it generated, as well as the quality of playing.
After this kind of triumph, a second CD and a television appearance with Lord Robert Winston all in the bag before Spring was out, there was a danger that the remainder of the 2007 season could fall rather flat. In fact, the choir's activities and ambitions have grown exponentially:
On the domestic front its educational programmes were developed in workshop-and-concert sessions in Grimsby (March) and Blackburn (November), and there are plans to expand this kind of activity further. An appearance at Birmingham ArtsFest (September) has become almost a standard (though never routine) engagement, and there was a very successful appearance in Market Harborough (October) directed by Keith Allen, a busy conductor/adjudicator and Musical Director of Birmingham Symphonic Winds. The temporary loss of Nigel's soprillo in the post meant that its distinctive timbres were missing for this concert, a profound disappointment to everyone other than his immediate neighbours in the choir.
Visits by "saxperts" (the elite of the UK saxophone community) are a continuing feature of monthly rehearsals. In January it was Christian Foreshaw, professor of saxophone at the Guildhall School of Music, a calming influence and welcome distraction during the annual auditions, and in June, Alistair Parnell arrived with his Akai EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument) and his own Nottingham-based sax ensemble, Equinox, to run an information and activity-packed day. Kyle Horch, professor of saxophone at the Royal College of Music, will round off the saxpert season with his visit in December.
On the personnel front, Richard Ingham's role as energizing principle guest conductor - and ongoing saxpert – has been a major morale boost. Appearing with the choir in China, he has conducted at all subsequent concerts except Market Harborough and has demonstrated his long-term commitment to the choir by agreeing to become a trustee when the NSC becomes a charity, a move intended to secure its future and help resolve the vexed question of funding.
Given all this activity and exposure, it's not surprising that the choir's reputation continues to grow, attracting so many new players that a sister group has been established, the National Saxophone Ensemble. Rehearsals are conducted in parallel to the NSC's and the NSE will benefit from the same saxpert visits; it will run on the same co-operative ethos as the choir, but will arrange its own concerts and will have special responsibility for new music – definitely a force to be reckoned with.
With an intensive rehearsal weekend in Brittany and the Prague Fringe Festival already on the cards for 2008, there's no danger that this year's momentum will be allowed to falter, and there are now dates in the diary as far ahead as Autumn 2009. First fixture to look out for is a concert at Gillingham, Kent, on Saturday 29th March, to be conducted by John Harle, who, together with Lord Robert Winston, have agreed to become patrons of the new NSC charity - funds may be an ongoing challenge, but generous support has never been an issue.
Alongside all this blowing and ambition the creativity at the heart of the choir is blossoming too, and is reflected in a steady stream of imaginative arrangements from choir members, soon to be available from this site as NSC E-EDITIONS.
For more information about the National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain, please visit www.saxchoir.com.
