Vagues Saxophone Quartet - Glazunov, Françaix, Nagao: Masterpieces for Saxophone Quartet (2022)

The Vagues Saxophone Quartet is not your standard saxophone quartet. Its dynamic structure can be modulated at will. Its four members are all poly:instrumentalists: this allows for a flexible reinterpretation of the saxophone ensemble, displaying its multifaceted timbral resources in a variety of novel combinations.
The ensemble’s guiding principle is to promote what already exists and to foster the creation of what can come into being. This means to engage the historical repertoire originally conceived for saxophone quartet and to invite the composition of new works, in a constant interaction with composers, exploring the endless possibilities offered by innovative performing practices.
This double perspective was already observed on their debut concert, in 2016, at the prestigious festival “Milano Musica”, where they premiered Gabriele Cosmi’s Kic, dedicated to and written for them.
This was just the beginning of a net of stimulating collaborations. Over the years, the Vagues Saxophone Quartet cooperated with famous composers such as Fabien Levy, Stylianos Dimou, Gabriele Cosmi, Federico Troncatti, Paolo Coggiola, Paolo Ugoletti, Leonardo Bolgeri. In 2017 they performed Levy’s Durch and premiered Ugoletti’s Hard Waves in Germany and Italy. They also interpreted Ugoletti’s Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Band in 2018 at the Gala Concert of the International Competition Flicorno d’Oro, with the Brescia Wind Orchestra under the baton of M° Angelo Bolciaghi. Another work by Ugoletti, Russian Bells, for saxophone quartet and organ, was premiered by the Quartet with Sardinian organist Giovanni Solinas; with this programme they toured extensively in Germany and Italy eliciting the appreciation of both audience and critics (“All appeared to have been already said about Bach, but the Vagues Saxophone Quartet and Giovanni Solinas demonstrated that the opposite is true”, Rheinische Post).
In 2018 the Quartet represented Italy at the XVIII World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb (Croatia), premiering Federico Troncatti’s In Memoriam Bob Berg. They also performed for important seasons, such as Società del Quartetto of Milan (at Casa Verdi and at the Borsa), at Festivals such as “Le altre Note”, Valtellina Teatro Festival (with works by Jinrich Feld, Giuseppe Ruggiero, and Beethoven's Trio Op. 87 transcribed by Francesco Ronzio), Festival Lago e Monti in Varenna (where they premiered Paolo Coggiola’s Subway Dances).
Among the several prizes and awards won by the Quartet are the “Premio Novecento” for the best performance of modern and contemporary music at the International Competition “Luigi Nono” (Venaria Reale) as well as the International Competition of Contemporary Music Performance organized by the Fondazione Flavio Vespasiano of Rieti.