Conducting Clasax Saxophone and Clarinet Ensembles, 2016. Photo credit: Denise Illing.
Performing with the Australian Army Band Melbourne, 2015.
Conducting Encore21, Athenaeum Theatre, 2018.
Directing the Old Paradians Association Anzac Centenary Annual Dinner, Park Hyatt Melbourne, 2014.
Conducting Clasax Saxophone and Clarinet Ensembles, 2017.
Performing with the Australian Army Band Melbourne, Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, 2019.
Performing at wedding ceremony, Portsea Hotel, 2024.
Conducting Encore21, Athenaeum Theatre, 2018.
Performing for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Australia, Marvel Stadium, 2016.
Hector Berlioz, Chant Sacré (1844),
arranged for saxophone ensemble by Jean-Marie Londeix (Paris: Leduc, 1987).
Hector Berlioz was an ally and champion of Adolphe Sax, and the first major composer to write for saxophone in an 1844 arrangement of this piece – albeit a solitary bass saxophone among clarinets and saxhorns. This 1987 arrangement by Jean-Marie Londeix, scored for twelve saxophones, offers glimpses of the characterisations Berlioz made of the instrument – ‘full, mellow, vibrant, of enormous strength’, and possessing ‘an imposing, papal calm’ among others – but is something of which Sax could only dream in the instrument’s troubled first generation.
Recorded at the Kenneth Myer Auditorium, Ian Potter Southbank Centre, University of Melbourne, 2022.
Georges Bizet, L’Arlésienne Suite no. 1 (1872), arranged by Herman Finck, transcribed for military band by W.J. Duthoit (London: Hawkes, 1932).
Bizet’s work, a rare example of saxophone repertoire from the nineteenth-century musical performing canon, was performed by the 53-strong Sousa Band in Sydney in May 1911 as part of its world tour.
Conductor: Adam Matthews.
Recorded at Newman Hall, Defence Force School of Music, 2021.
Michael William Balfe, The Heart Bowed Down (1843), arranged by Eugen Lazora, (Chicago: National Music, 1903), adapted by Ross Chapman.
Saxophonic exploits from industrious Sydney musician, bandleader, publican and freemason Sebastian Hodge regaled Sydney’s stages from 1879 to 1889. This melody from the 1843 opera The Bohemian Girl was Hodge’s signature piece, often followed by spoken remarks and musical variations, and left enough of an impression to be recalled in the local press as late as 1925.
Associate artist: Jesika Clark.
Recorded at Medley Hall, Carlton, 2022.
Ali Ben Sou Allé, Souvenirs d’Australie et de Manille (1861), revised by Paul Wehage (Paris: Editions de la Fabrique Musique, 2010).
After appearing in the vibrant Promenade concerts of Louis-Antoine Jullien, saxophone virtuoso Ali Ben Sou Allé arrived in Geelong on Christmas Eve 1852, and performed to Australian audiences through to 1855. Sou Allé composed souvenirs from the many places he visited, including Ireland, South Africa, China, and Java, and later presented a compendium of these to the Prince of Wales. His dedications to Australia – Stephen Foster’s The Old Folks at Home and variations – and Manila – a bolero – sit together in this piece, and are prefaced by an introductory aria.
Associate artist: Jesika Clark.
Recorded at Medley Hall, Carlton, 2022.
Live in Living Colour
Catch Me If You Can
Performed by Joe Spanti, Luke Bortignon and Ensemble.
Encore21: 21 Years of Parade College Musicals, 1996–2017.
Director: Tyson Legg.
Producers: John Abrahams and Brad Cocks.
Musical Director: Ross Chapman.
Video Production: Stephen Howard, Chiron Entertainment.
One Day More
Les Misérables
Performed by Stephen Valeri, John Abrahams, Julian Campobasso, Elizabeth Psaila, Tyson Legg, Sarah Calsiña, Mark Spencer, Kathleen Di Rago and Ensemble.
Encore21: 21 Years of Parade College Musicals, 1996–2017.
Director: Tyson Legg.
Producers: John Abrahams and Brad Cocks.
Musical Director: Ross Chapman.
Video Production: Stephen Howard, Chiron Entertainment.