The World Saxophone Congress is a festival gathering approximately 1000

saxophonists Instruments key: * s, Sopranino * S, Soprano * A, Alto * T, Tenor * B, Baritone * b, Bass * c, Contrabass (or tubax) * sc, Subcontrabass Indicators key: *X, instrument has been used by person or group *X, instrument has been used by person o ...

and other musicians from all over the world. It is held every three years at a different congress centre in a different country and focuses primarily (although not exclusively) on the performance of classical saxophone music. The Congress presents an opportunity to meet saxophonists from many countries and to listen to various concerts and performances of saxophone soloists, chamber ensembles, big bands and symphony orchestras that run simultaneously throughout the day in different halls of the congress centre. Each of the five days is concluded by an evening concert of the orchestra and outstanding international soloists. It is also convened with the purpose of presenting the advancements of music production and distribution as well as innovations in instrument-making and equipment. The seventeenth and most recent World Saxophone Congress, known as SaxOpen, was held between 9 and 14 July 2015 in Strasbourg France.World Saxophone Congress: Strasbourg 2015, retrieved 30 July 201217th World Saxophone Congress 2015
", International Saxophone Committee announcement, May 2012, retrieved 30 July 2012 The eighteenth World Saxophone Congress was slated to be held in 2018 in Zagreb, Croatia.

Origins

The World Saxophone Congress was conceived by

Paul Brodie Paul Brodie, (April 10, 1934 – November 19, 2007) was a Canadian saxophonist, pupil of Marcel Mule. In 1994, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour, for having "shown true mastery of his art through h ...

(1934 - 2007) and co-founded in 1969 with Eugene Rousseau (b. 1932), holding their first Congress in Chicago.Richard Ingham, '' The Cambridge companion to the saxophone'', Publisher Cambridge University Press, 1998, , , 226 pages.
page 48
) Eugene Rousseau writes: :"The most memorable time I spent with Paul rodiewas our December, 1968 meeting in Chicago. It was during this meeting that he articulated his vision of the establishment of a world saxophone congress. It came to fruition in conjunction with the Midwest Band Clinic during the following year. The World Saxophone Congress, thanks to the dream of Paul Brodie, had become established." Paul Brodie himself recalls: :"I went to an accordion congress in Toronto and I was so impressed that I thought "wouldn’t it be great to do this for the saxophone".... The next year I came back to the Midwest Band Clinic. I had written an article for ''Instrumentalist Magazine'' - "Towards a World Saxophone Congress", and I was invited to a meeting of the executive committee and they offered me the grand ballroom of the Sherman House Hotel for 16 December 1969. I asked other saxophone players to help me and nobody responded. I called Eugene Rousseau because I had met him in Seattle at a music convention.... So we met in September 1969 at the Holiday Inn at O’Hare Airport in Chicago and we stayed up all night designing the program and started to call everybody the next morning and by the time we held the first congress we thought that maybe 200 people would show up. Well over 500 saxophonists showed up."Paul Brodie: Ambassador of the Saxophone
", interview by Willem Moolenbeek, 10 January 2000. Retrieved 11 November 2011 In 1981, a 7-member International Saxophone Committee (in French, Comite International du Saxophone, CIS). was set up to help organise the Congress.

Performers and participants

Congress performers/participants have included Frederick Hemke, Eugene Rousseau,

Donald Sinta Donald J. Sinta (born June 16, 1937 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American classical saxophonist, educator, and administrator. Mr. Sinta earned a Master of Music degree in saxophone performance from the University of Michigan in 1962. In 1969, he ...

, Patrick Meighan,

Bruce Faulconer Bruce Laland Faulconer is an American composer, musician, and music producer. He is the President of Faulconer Productions Music Corporation and its CakeMix Recording Studio, based in Dallas, Texas. Faulconer wrote the score for 243 episodes of t ...

, One O'Clock Lab Band, Lee Patrick,

Ronald Caravan Ronald Caravan (born November 20, 1946) is an American classical musician. He is a clarinetist, saxophonist, teacher, composer, and arranger. Early life and education Caravan was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. He earned a Master of Arts i ...

, Lin Chien-Kwan, Roger Greenberg,

Debra Richtmeyer Debra Richtmeyer is an American classical saxophonist born June 19, 1957, in Lansing, Michigan. Richtmeyer earned her B.M.E. and M.M. at Northwestern University, where she studied with Frederick L. Hemke. She is Professor of Saxophone at the Un ...

Kyle Horch Kyle Horch (born 1964) is a classical saxophonist. Biography Horch studied at Northwestern University in Chicago, U.S. with Frederick Hemke. He then won a BP North America Scholarship to pursue post-graduate study at the Guildhall School of ...

, the Scottish Saxophone Ensemble, the National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain,World Sax Congress, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 8 July 2006
", The National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain website, retrieved 26 November 2011. and Brian Brown

Venues

The World Saxophone Congress has been held in:

References

Bibliography

*Richard Ingham, ''The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone'', Cambridge University Press, 1998, *Thomas Liley, Paul Brodie, Eugene Rousseau, ''A brief history of the World Saxophone Congress: 1969-2000'', World Saxophone Congress, Published 2003, 42 pages

Origins

Performers and participants

Venues

References

Bibliography

External links