Shockingly Modern Saxophone Festival Feb. 25 brings guest artist, world premiere

The annual Shockingly Modern Saxophone Festival returns to Augustana College Feb. 25, featuring guest artist Jorge Hoyo from Mexico City and the premiere of a new work from the German composer Hainbach.

The festival also will feature performances from Augustana faculty and the Augustana College Saxophone Studio.

All events are free and open to the public.

The festival is an annual event that celebrates new and experimental music for saxophone. It features music that explores the potential of the saxophone through new composition, improvisation, extended performance techniques, microtonality, electronic music, multimedia and other experimental elements.

Schedule

All events will be held in Wallenberg Hall inside the Denkmann Memorial Building. Performances will be livestreamed on campus radio WAUG.FM.

10 a.m. Concert One with members of the Augustana Saxophone Studio (Program)

11 a.m. Saxophone masterclass with Jorge Hoyo; students will perform (Program)

2:30 p.m. Concert Two with Randall Hall and the world premiere of new work by Hainbach (Program)

3:30 p.m. Guest artist Q&A with Jorge Hoyo

7:30 p.m. Concert Three: Jorge Hoyo, festival guest artist (Program)

Hoyo is a leading interpreter of music for saxophone based in Mexico City. He is co-founder of the Ensamble Modular de Arte Contemporáneo, an ensemble dedicated to contemporary music, and teaches at Universidad Anáhuac México and Escuela de Bellas Artes de Ixtapaluca.

He is an active performer in Mexico City. He has collaborated with composers from across the Americas and Europe and performed thought Mexico, the U.S., Europe and Asia. Hoyo holds degrees from the University of Grenade, Spain (Masters in Music Education), Conservatoire National de Région de Boulogne-Billancourt, France (Premier Prix de Saxophone and Perfectionnement) and the Boston Conservatory.

Based in Berlin, Germany, electronic music composer and performer Hainbach creates shifting audio landscapes The Wire magazine called “One hell of a trip.”

Using esoteric synthesizers, test equipment and magnetic tape, his music is both abstract yet very much a corporal experience. He has become known for his immersive live performances and his YouTube channel, where he brings experimental music techniques to more than 150,000 subscribers. His music has been released on Seil Records, Opal Tapes, SA Recordings and misc.works. He performs though out Europe and beyond.