EN
FRMany Faces – new co-written works for saxophone & piano, inspired by world travels
Website(s) : http://www.jenniwatson.com / http://www.martinjacoby.co.uk
Saxophone and piano duo Jenni & Martin join creative forces to premiere the finished works at the world saxophone event. Draving inspiration from their travels performing around the globe.
Biography
Both Masters graduates of the RNCM (UK), Jenni & Martin have a virtuosity & panache that is matched by an ethos of creating accessible music with a personable approach.
Between them they have performed with/written for the BBC Philharmonic, Channel 4 & the Edinburgh festival.
Jenni became the first in the RNCM’s history to compose her entire final recital suite, Reflections. High praise for this led to commissions from professional ensembles & many conservatoire players.
Martin has gained a reputation as a versatile concert artist, making notable appearances at the Bridgewater Hall, Steinway Hall, and the Nottingham Albert Hall. He has an extensive recording catalogue, most recently releasing ‘Debussy: Images’ and ‘Mozart: Piano Sonatas’ albums under the Basilica music label.
More information
There is of course a wealth of music for saxophone & piano duo. However, there is always a demand for new works, and many of these explore a highly contemporary/avant garde sound. While Jenni & Martin both enjoy performing in this genre, their real passion is for creating aesthetic music that has a strong basis in functional harmony and driving rhythmic energy, accessible to a variety of audiences. As performer-composers, both are rapidly gaining notoriety for their originality in this area.
The theme of travel in this project, and its title ‘Many Faces’, complements the ethos of the congress well – celebrating the duo’s first trip to France together, and the bringing together of players from all over the world to celebrate different musical styles and cultures.
Jenni & Martin’s compositional styles are well matched, complementing each other with their combined love of minimalism, film music and composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Chopin, Pärt and Tavener.
Both well known for composing for their own instrument, they join forces in a new venture to co-write music for their duo. This project focuses on their experiences travelling around various parts of the world while performing together, creating a programme of new music and developing a new writing style by completing their initial sketches together, highlighting the joint nature of their travel experience.
Jenni’s second album (Meditations, produced by Rob Buckland), the first to feature the duo, saw the start of Martin & Jenni working together compositionally to finalise Jenni’s arrangements of popular melodies. This new project provides a platform to work more closely together, offering an even keel for each voice and instrument to speak both independently and in unison.
The duo bring together sketches written at the time of travel into completed works ahead of the congress, and Martin will also compose a short new work from their 2015 tour to Australia.
Jenni’s compositional output has been predominantly large scale, including her Reflections suite and the Urban Species project, both of which were 45 – 60 minutes in length. In contrast, many of Martin’s works have been standalone pieces, shorter in length. The programme will highlight the collaborative blend of these contrasting styles.
The Congress provides a perfect opportunity to put together a versatile programme of new music, in a sympathetic environment, to launch the duo as both a compositional and performing force.