Branford Marsalis (expired event)

The American saxophone virtuoso makes his Australian Chamber Orchestra debut in a Latin American jazz-inspired program featuring Piazzolla and Villa-Lobos directed by Principal Violin Satu Vänskä.

Branford Marsalis is an artist deeply aligned with the ACO spirit. He hails from a rich Jazz heritage, but is also an artist of today, renowned for his thrilling virtuosity and boundless musicality. His ACO debut is a vivid program inspired by Latin American jazz, directed by ACO Principal Violin Satu Vänskä.

Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Fantasia for Saxophone and Orchestra is a Marsalis favourite. Written in New York, it is music with an alluring combination of driving beats and lyricism. Marsalis also plays Sally Beamish’s serene Under the Wing of the Rock, arranged especially for him by Beamish, in a bluesy translation for saxophone.

Marsalis’s performances alternate with Satu Vänskä taking centre stage in Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, a heady mixture of tango rhythms and ingenious references to Vivaldi’s famous concertos. The concert concludes with Ginastera’s wild and exhilarating Concerto for Strings.

Branford Marsalis Saxophone
Satu Vänskä Director & Violin

STRAVINSKY No.3 from Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet
VILLA-LOBOS Fantasia for Saxophone and Orchestra
PIAZZOLLA The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
VILLA-LOBOS Ária (Cantilena) from Bachianas Brasileiras No.5
SALLY BEAMISH Under the Wing of the Rock: Saxophone Concerto No.2 Australian Premiere
GINASTERA Concerto for Strings