Alliage Quintet II: The Big B's 2024

Alliage Quintet II: The Big B's 2024

July, 2024

First Baptist Church, Ottawa, Ontario

About This Festival

The Alliage quintet is one of Europe’s most creative and successful saxophone ensembles. Its characteristics are seen in a large diversity in style, and also in the blending of different epochs and manners of playing. This is also represented in their name: “alliage” is the French term for “alloy”, referring to the saxophone as an alloy of copper and zinc. In the broader sense, it stands for the musical ideal of the five musicians forming one homogeneous whole, and for their perfectly balanced playing. The quintet was founded by Daniel Gauthier, currently the only professor for classical saxophone in Germany (Hochschule für Musik, Cologne) and the ensemble’s leader and soprano saxophone. He is joined by three of today’s best soloists on saxophone Hayrapet Arakelyan, alto; Simon Hamrath, tenor; and Sebastian Pottmeier, baritone. The quintet is completed by the Korean pianist Jang Eun Bae, an experienced and well-versed chamber musician. The quintet’s core repertoire consists of well-known masterpieces of all epochs, cleverly arranged for the ensemble with exceptional sensitivity. Current programs include Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rimski-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Bizet’s Carmen and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

Music of / Musique de Beethoven, Bach, Bernstein & Barber