The Stockholm Saxophone Quartet to give an online concert at the largest Estonian new music festival Estonian Music Days 

The Stockholm Saxophone Quartet to give an online concert at the largest Estonian new music festival Estonian Music Days 

The world premières of compositions by Estonian composers will reach the audience as a live online performance from Sweden. Audience members can also make their participation visible through the media platform elektron.live and interact directly with each other. 

The Stockholm Saxophone Quartet is proud to present a programme consisting of two world premières by Estonian composers – Jüri Reinvere and Liisa Hirsch – as well as pieces by Paulina Sundin (Sweden) and Monty Adkins (UK). All the compositions have been written especially for the quartet. Us… and Them… by Liisa Hirsch is inspired by communication within a wolf pack; Jüri Reinvere’s A–O refers to the Greek letters alpha and omega, but also to vowels that are used in most languages.

“We are delighted to continue our collaboration with Estonia and Estonian composers. This time, the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet will premiere two pieces, Us… and Them… by Liisa Hirsch and A-O by Jüri Reinvere two characterful, personal and well-composed pieces that will enrich our repertoire,” quartet member Linn Persson commented. 

“Since our collaboration with Estonian composers started, we have had the opportunity to perform pieces by Ester Mägi, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Helena Tulve, Tõnu Kõrvits and Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes among others. These works have become a cherished part of our repertoire.”

The virtual concert shall take place on September 17 at 19:00 via the media platform eˉlektron. Of the received acclaim, the most noteworthy achievement for elektron.live is reaching 3rd place among 150 participants at the Universal Music Group’s competition for technological media platforms in spring 2020. 

The festival Estonian Music Days takes place from September 12 to September 20 in various concert venues in Tartu, Tallinn and the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa. Running since 1979, the festival focuses on new music composed by Estonian composers, filling the concert halls with over 20 world premières every year. 

The festival is organised by the Estonian Composers’ Union. Sponsors include the Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the city of Tartu, the city of Tallinn and the Estonian Authors’ Society. 

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The Stockholm Saxophone Quartet was founded in 1969 by saxophonist Sven Westerberg. Today the quartet consists of Jörgen Pettersson, Mathias Karlsen Björnstad, Linn Persson and Leif Karlborg.

After half a century, their driving force is still to explore and push the boundaries of what is considered artistically possible to achieve. With dedication and expertise, the quartet members have also had a unique and special ability to present contemporary music in a way that makes it more approachable and creates curiosity around its diverse aesthetic. 

Over the years, 700 pieces have been composed for the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet by Swedish and foreign composers. In addition to touring around the world, the quartet also holds seminars and collaborates with representatives from other art genres.