Part of the North American Saxophone Alliance Region IX Conference, Edmonton 2009

Monday, 16 February 2009, 8:00 P.M.
Convocation Hall, University of Alberta
Tickets $15 (adults) and $10 (seniors and students) available at the door

Music by: Jacques Demierre, Piotr Grella-Możejko, Tom Johnson, Luis Jure, Jean-Daniel Lugrin, Laurent Mettraux, Benoit Moreau, Monte Keene Pishny-Floyd, Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratjke, Lois V. Vierk, Istvan Zelenka, Jos Zwaanenburg

Laurent Estoppey studied saxophone at the Conservatoire de Lausanne, where in 1994 he obtained a performance diploma. From that moment on, Laurent has devoted his attention to the music of our times. During all those years, Laurent has premièred over seventy works, ranging from the conventionally notated scores to improvised and intuitive music. Very active as a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed in Argentina, Austria, Canada, Great Britain, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Romania, Sweden, and the US, not to mention countless appearances in his native Switzerland.

Laurent has performed on a regular basis with a number of orchestras, including the following: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestre Symphonique de Bâle, UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra, The Timisoara Symphony Orchestra (Romania), The Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta de Lausanne, NEC – Chaux-de-Fonds, and Contrechamps-Genève. Fond of collaborative efforts, Laurent has been involved in several such projects: Duo Dilemme (with the pianist Myriam Migani), Degré21 (with the guitarist Antonio Albanese), 1+1 (with the recorder player Anne Gillot), Compagnie CH.AU (a chamber ensemble of seven musicians), as well as the 4Tenors (with three other fellow tenor saxophone performers, Vincent Daoud, Rico Gubler and Lars Mlekusch).

Other collaborative ventures include the ARTE Saxophone Quartet and Ensemble baBel, the latter founded by Olivier Cuendet. Laurent Estoppey, the improviser, works with several collectives such as HipNoiz51, Betty’s Quartet, Yet Trio, Heimatlos, and 1+1+Stephan Perrinjaquet. Laurent is also a member of the Russian theatre company, Akhe, in whose acclaimed production, Wet Wedding, he appeared in Geneva, Nice, London, Stockholm, and Mexico. Laurent’s interest in interdisciplinary æsthetics has resulted in collaborations with Georges Haldas (poetry), Olivier Saudan (painting and video), Francis Baudevin, Stephan Perrinjaquet (visual arts), Heidi Bunting, Christine Cruchon (dance), Gil Pidoux (literature and theatre).

At the present moment, Laurent’s discography comprises a dozen titles, the most recent project–still in the works–being a full-length CD of music by Piotr Grella-Możejko.

www.musicians.ch/laurentestoppey/

Tickets for this international music event are general admission and are available at the door for $20 general and $15 student or senior.

For information contact the conference organisers: Dr. Charles Stolte, William H. Street, Allison Balcetis