Five world premieres by Rico Gubler, Hans-Jürg Meier,
Laurent Estoppey and Antoine Françoise
preceded and followed by two improvisations.
Guest Artist Recital
Monday, March 16, 2015
5:30 pm
Recital Hall, Music Building
Program
Laurent Estoppey and Antoine Françoise share the same passion for the music of
our time and spend all their energy towards contemporary music through a busy
career as soloists, chamber musicians, improvisers and composers. After the
fundamental and simple desire to play together, the main starting point of the
duo is to perform for the first time two works by Swiss composer Rico Gubler:
Slant Song and Lulu in a box, the later was written for Laurent Estoppey in 2008.
Because of their unusual and original forms, as well as their technical demand,
the works were never performed and are still awaiting a premiere. Around these
two pieces, Zurich-based composer Hans-Jurg Meier is being commissioned a
brand new work. But both performers wish to showcase their skills through two
improvisations and two new solo compositions written for one another.
The Slant Song and Lulu in a box by Rico Gubler
These two works belong to the 2008/2009 piano and saxophone cycle Book of
crime. In both pieces, the performers are asked to go beyond their instrumental
skills, using their voices as a new mean of expression.
In The Slant Song, both musicians complete the rich and demanding
instrumental writing with the story of Bobby’s adventure on his go-cart, a
children story written in 1910, narrated in a slam/rap manner. As of Lulu in a
box, a low-fi diffusion is played from inside the piano, from which emerge a text
and a second piano voice. The work revisits Hölderlin’s play, Lulu
Commission to Hans-Jürg Meier
Composer Hans-Jurg Meier has great knowledge of the saxophone. We owe him
some essential pieces from the saxophone repertoire such as Couleurs de la rose
(1999-2001) for saxophone, oboe and flute, Nodo (2002-2004) and Cerchio sul
Cielo (2005) for saxophone quartet. His music is deeply connected to the modern
expressions yet takes also considerable inspiration in ancient music.
Remembering Eric Gaudibert’s oboe concerto « su fondamenta invisibili »,
written in two parts played before and after the interval, Laurent Estoppey
suggested to Hans-Jurg Meier to follow the same unusual concept, playing with
the audience’s memory and perception.
Two solos
On a regular basis, both Laurent Estoppey and Antoine Françoise extend their
musical horizon and compose on top of their performing activity. Concert music,
installations, concepts or collaboration with visual artists, their approach to
composition essentially takes source in their experience as performers.
For this particular project, they have challenged each other to write a solo piece
for the other performer respecting the general context of the concert.
Two improvisations
Both improvisers, the performers wish to add a spontaneous character to the
concert. At the same time very personal but also adequately adapted to each
concert venue and context, they present an improvisation at the beginning and at
the end of the concert. The first one, still fresh and unchallenged by the
repertoire to come, will become a real exploration of each particular venue as
well a projection of the trajectory of the whole concert.
The later will close the concert. Compared to the first one, the second
improvisation will be charged with the energy and the near memory of the
pieces played beforehand.
The programme is then presented in mirror form :
Improvisation
Lulu in a Box Rico Gubler
Solo 1 (piano or saxophone, to be decided) Laurent Estoppey/Antoine Françoise
New work (1st part) Hans-Jürg Meier
*** interval ***
New work (2nd part) Hans-Jürg Meier
Solo 2 (piano or saxophone, to be decided) Laurent Estoppey/Antoine Françoise
The slant song Rico Gubler
Improvisation
« Where Bobby lives there is a hill
A hill so steep and high
‘Twould fill the bill for Jack and Jill
Their famous act to try
Once Bobby’s Go-cart broke away
And down the hill it kited.
The careless nurse screamed in dismay
But Bobby was delighted »…
Peter Newell, The Slant Book (1910), used by R. Gubler for The Slant Song
Rico Gubler
www.ricogubler.ch
Having studied saxophone with Iwan Roth in Basle, with Marcus Weiss in
Zurich and with Jean-Michel Goury in Paris, Rico Gubler started to specialize in
contemporary music, free improvisation and in the live performance of electronic
music. In 1997 and 1998 he was awarded the student prize by the Migros Co-operative
Association (Migros Genossenschaftsbund) and the Ernst Göhner
Foundation. After this, he studied composition with Balz Trümpy in Basle and
Salvatore Sciarrino in Florence. In 1998 he won the Prize of the Club de mécénat
suisse en France. He was supported by grants from the Künstlerhof Schreyan in
Lower Saxony (2001), the Landis & Gyr Foundation and from the Royal
Academy in London (2001/02). In 2004 he was awarded a working year from the
city of Zurich and a grant from the Dr. Robert and Lina Thyll-Dürr Foundation.
In addition to performances as a soloist at the Donaueschinger Musiktage, the
Steirischer Herbst, Wien Modern, the Salzburger Festspiele, the MaerzMusik
Berlin and the Biennale München, Rico Gubler has played in various chamber
music formations. Through his work, he has developed artistic contacts with the
Klangforum Wien, the Ensemble Aventure, the Ensemble Phoenix Basel, the
SWR orchestra Baden-Baden, the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, the
Kammerorchester München, the Orchestre de chambre de Neuchâtel and the
Philharmonische Werkstatt Schweiz. Since 2004 Rico Gubler teaches saxophone
at the Lugano music conservatoire. He lives and works in Zurich.!
Hans-Jürg Meier
- Raised in Rüschikon/ZH, lives in Basel.
- Studied recorder under the tutelage of Conrad Steinmann at the Schola
Cantorum Basiliensis and composition under Roland Moser at Basel School of
music.
Since 1991 - Compositions, from 1995 onwards came thereto sound installations
and, in 1998, free improvised music
1997 until 2001 - Collaborates on the project Kaskadenkondensator, Basel
1999 until 2004 - Collaborates in the artistic direction of the Festival for
Improvised and Composed Contemporary Music
2001 - Wins the Swiss Association of Musician's Marguerite de Reding Prize with
the improvisation quartet 'Babels Besen'
2004/05 - Member of the Istituto Svizzero di Roma (ISR) with a working
residency at the Spazio culturale des ISR Venice in 2006
Translations from architecture play an ever-increasing role in the compositions of
Hans-Jürg Meier. On the one hand side the power of imagination is of
fundamental importance in both arts. On the other both address the holistic
invention of forms that develop in time and/or space. His compositions are
bound in the coaction of nature, form and beauty in an attempt to provide a
quasi-tangible experience of the sensible qualities of the musical material (tones,
intervals, sound texture).
Laurent Estoppey
www.laurentestoppey.com
After studying saxophone at the Conservatory of Lausanne, where he received in
1994, a concert license, the Swiss saxophonist established in Greensboro, NC,
Laurent Estoppey, devoted himself mostly to contemporary music.
Numerous collaborations with composers have led him to create at least one
hundred works. Now his musical activity is divided between written music and
improvisation, and it occurs throughout Switzerland, many European countries,
but also in Canada, USA, Argentina, Guatemala and South
Africa.
He works with the following orchestras: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Basel Symphony, UBS Verbier Festival
Orchestra, Timisoara, Orchestra of the State of Lithuania, Lausanne Sinfonietta,
NEC Chaux-de-Fonds, Contrechamps Geneva, Staatskapelle Weimar.
Estoppey has founded and developed several chamber music groups including:
DILEMME (saxophone / piano with Myriam Migani), ST15 (saxophone / piano
with Virginie Falquet) DEGRE21 (saxophone / guitar with Antonio Albanese),
1+1 (dual-concept Anne Gillot, recorders), compagnie CH.AU (set of nine
musicians) and the 4TENORS (saxophone quartet with Vincent Daoud, Rico
Gubler and Lars Mlekusch). Estoppey recently started a saxophone duet with
Steven Stusek. Additionally he is regularly invited to play with the saxophone
quartet Basel ARTE Quartet and is a member of Swiss baBel ensemBle.
His improvisational collaborations involve meetings and concerts with musicians
from all backgrounds. Many groups he has worked with are still alive today,
including: Zkrabuj et chou et pâté (with drummer Luc Müller), GUEZ TRIO
(Edmée Fleury, voice, François Rossi, drums), and 1+1 + Stephan Perrinjaquet.
Estoppey has also worked alongside many independant musicians such as
Jacques Demierre, Pierre Favre, Pierre Audétat, Malcolm Braff, Urs Leimgruber,
Nick Didkovsky.
He is a guest musician of the Russian theatrical troupe Akhe with whom the
show "Wet Wedding" was presented in Geneva, Nice, London, Stockholm, and
Mexico.
His discography includes fifteen recordings.
His interest in all contemporary arts has led him to collaborate with many artists
in interdisciplinary projects including, among others, projects with Georges
Haldas (literature), Olivier Saudan (painting and video), Christian Marclay,
Francis Baudevin, Stephan Perrinjaquet, Tatiana Rihs, Claudia Comte (visual
arts) Heidi Bunting, Christine Cruchon, Brianna Taylor (dance), Gil Pidoux
(literature and theater).
Also an educator, Estoppey used to teach saxophone from beginners to master
students for around twenty years in many music schools in Switzerland.
He is regularly invited to lead improvisation workshops for musicians of all
levels and all instruments, as well as saxophone and contemporary
masterclasses.
Estoppey is a reference artist for Italian saxophone maker Rampone-Cazzani.
As a composer
Laurent Estoppey is self taught composer. He uses all sorts of technics from
traditional to graphic notation and also uses the electronics as a compositional
tool. His works include concert pieces as well as sound installations and music
for video art.
Selection of compositions
Zap no zap (2014) two saxophones and electronics
NFM (2013) saxophone ensemble
La rencontre de l’immobile (2013) saxophone and electronics
Anagrammes (2013) two saxophones and electronics
La Ville Qui (with Anne Gillot, 2012) ensemble with electronics
Voices (2012) saxophone and electronics
Tombés du ciel (2009) for large ensemble
Sympathy with the devil (2005) music for video
La passion (2000) narrator, saxophone and tape
6 polaroïds (1999) saxophone solo
For Marius Borgeaud (1998) music for video
As an improviser
For almost twenty years, Laurent Estoppey tries to push the boundaries of the
saxophone through the practice of improvisation Through solo or collective
projects, his main focus is the sound(s) of the instrument and by extension, the
sound(s) of music.
His personal projects include extensive work around French poet Christian Guez
Ricord, as well as hip-hop/free project HipNoiz51, leading him to perform with
musicians such as Ikue Mori, Anthony Coleman, Jacques Demierre, Pierre Favre,
Malcolm Braff, Urs leimgruber, Nick Didkovski, D’incise, Pierre Audétat, Dragos
Tara, Benoît Moreau, Anne Gillot, Pascal Desarzens, amongst many others.
Antoine Françoise
www.francoise-green.com
After studying in Switzerland and United Kingdom with professors Paul Coker,
Yonty Solomon, Andrew Ball, Ashley Wass (piano), Laurent Estoppey
(saxophone) and Michael Oliva (composition), Antoine Françoise performs
nowadays in Europe and further as a soloist, chamber musician, with ensembles
and orchestras. At the term of his studies at the Royal College of Music in
London, he was awarded the prestigious Tagore Gold Medal, for his outstanding
talent and dedication to music. Antoine now is a professor of piano
(contemporary specialism) at the RCM.!Fascinated by the chamber music of the
20th and 21st centuries, as well as all new expressions of modern music, Antoine
is founding member of the Mercury Quartet and the Francoise-Green piano duo,
2011 winners of Concours Nicati (Switzerland). He is also principal pianist of
Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain (NEC, Switzerland) and London Contemporary
Orchestra. He also played with the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Contrechamps,
Philharmonia Orchestra and the London Philarmonic Orchestra. He played with
conductors such as Diego Masson, Pierre-Alain Monot, Nicholas Collon or
Vladimir Jurowski.!Antoine worked closely with composers such as Julian
Anderson, Rebecca Saunders, Hans-Peter Kyburz (giving the uk premiere of his
concerto) and Eric Gaudibert (who dedicated his last concerto GONG to him).!In
the classical field, he has performed widely in Switzerland, France and the
United Kingdom, including concerti by Grieg, Hindemith or Poulenc and is
hugely in demand as an orchestral pianist and chamber musician.
As a composer
Mainly self taught composer, Antoine writes on a regular basis since 2004 for
chamber groups or solo instruments. He later received precious advice from
Swiss composer Eric Gaudibert and also studied electronic composition with
Michael Oliva in London. His works have been played in Switzerland and the
UK. His recent successes include a composition for ensemble and electronics
for the Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain (CH) that was broadcasted on the Swiss
Radio Espace 2 and a duo for cello and double bass for Noëlle Reymond and
Pascal Desarzens. He has also collaborated with English composer and violinist
Jordan Hunt on a large scale work for theatre, dancers and musician as part of
London Sinfonietta's Culture collective and has been devising open scores for
semi-improvised concerts with the Mercury Quartet.
List of compositions:
Deux anges passent... , musical theatre for 2 actors, clarinet, piano, double bass
and percussion
Haikai, for speaking violinist
TGV, for saxophone and electronics
Amour, mode majeur, for speaker and 3 female voices
Histoire de bleu, for soprano, cello, trombone, harpe, percussion and piano
Tombeau suspendu, for percussion and electronics
Springtime, for tape
Daydream, for saxophone and electronics
Be seated along the way, for clarinet, flute, trombone, violin, cello and electronics
Nach dem Sturm, for cello and double bass
As an improviser
Antoine is very active in the world of free improvisation. His long collaboration
with percussionist Serge Vuille has led them to perform in Switzerland and the
UK their piano4hands project and as part of the Mercury Quartet, he has
performed in a wide range of venues including King's Place and Cafe Oto in
London. Their improvised album Mercury Acoustic was released in 2011 with
label Nonclassical and received wide acclaim in the UK and the USA. He has
collaborated with musicians such as clarinettist Laurent Bruttin, singer Linda
Hirst and saxophonist Laurent Estoppey to name a few. Antoine is also currently
working on a new solo project for detuned/prepared piano and electronics.
