From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
British saxophone player and composer
Christian Forshaw
is an English
saxophone
player and composer.
Christian Forshaw was born in
Knaresborough
,
[1]
Yorkshire
[2]
and graduated from the
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
in 1995 with distinction.
[3]
[4]
He then began working with some of the world’s finest ensembles including the
London Sinfonietta
, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
and the
Philharmonia Orchestra
. He has collaborated with
Tenebrae
,
Voces 8
,
Brian Eno
,
Moondog
,
Damon Albarn
,
Hugh Jackman
[5]
and the BBC Singers
[6]
amongst many others. Since 2002 Forshaw has been Professor of Saxophone at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
[7]
Forshaw is a member of Notes Inegales, directed by
Peter Wiegold
, and was featured as soloist with the group in 2005 playing Donatoni’s
Hot
. He has also made solo appearances with the Scottish Ensemble, giving several critically acclaimed performances of
Richard Rodney Bennett
’s
Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Strings
, and with the London Sinfonietta in 2002 performing
Pedro Rebello
’s
Aquas Liberas
at the
Queen Elizabeth Hall
.
Forshaw's debut album
Sanctuary
(QTZ2009) combines saxophone, voices, church organ and percussion in arrangements of sacred melodies as well as original composition.
Sanctuary
reached No.1 in both the Amazon.co.uk Classical Chart and New Zealand’s Concert FM charts, and made the
Classic FM
"Hall of Fame" in 2005.
In 2006 Forshaw turned down a four album deal with SonyBMG in favour of setting up his own label, IntegraRecordsUK. This was to avoid having to consider market forces when creating further albums; something he felt would kill the creative process. His second album,
Renouncement
, was released on Integra in April 2007. He was subsequently commissioned to write a piece in memory of victims of the
London bombings of 2005
.
[8]
Albums
[
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]
- Sanctuary
(2004)
- Renouncement
(2007)
- Midwinter
(2008)
- Reflections of France
(2008)
- Songs of Solace
(2012)
- Historical Fiction
(2021)
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]