Chart-Topping UK Saxophonist Debuts With NZSO In November

One of the most exciting artists in music makes her New Zealand debut in Wellington and Christchurch in November with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

British saxophonist Jess Gillam has topped the UK classical charts, is a Classical Brit Award winner, the youngest ever soloist to perform at the iconic Last Night of the Proms and the first saxophonist to reach the finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year.

For her Aotearoa debut with the NZSO led by Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Gemma New, Gillam will perform one of the most exhilarating works ever written for saxophone. Russian composer Alexander Galzunov’s landmark Saxophone Concerto, written in 1934, requires Gillam to play for 14 minutes without any pauses.

In the same concert, audiences get a second helping of the acclaimed musician, awarded an MBE in 2021, as she will join other NZSO players to perform Rachmaninov’s heart-pumping Symphonic Dances.

Gillam, who has recorded arrangements to music by Kate Bush, David Bowie, Björk and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, alongside classical giants Debussy, Shostakovich and others, has championed the saxophone’s versatility across all music genres.

“The saxophone is fascinating as it can be seen as an instrument that doesn’t fully ‘belong’ anywhere —it’s a truly fluid instrument that can break free from the boxes and labels we have invented for music,” she’s said.

“The malleability and directness of its sound is unique — it can wail and soar and seem to smash the world into a thousand sound pieces, but also be extremely tender and whisper. It can capture so many emotions and tell so many stories.”

Gillam has previously worked with Maestra New. In September she performed in Seoul with the acclaimed New Zealand conductor leading the KBS Symphony Orchestra.

Symphonic Dances also features French composer and jazz innovator Darius Milhaud’s Brazilian-influenced Scaramouche and the world premiere of an extraordinary work by New Zealand composer Tabea Squire. Conversation of the Light-ship and the Tide, commissioned by the NZSO, is the latest in a series of celebrated works by the talented composer. The New Zealand Herald declared that Squire’s “orchestral ingenuity was as astounding as her assurance.”

Squire’s concept for her new work came from hearing her previous piece Variations performed by the NZSO under Maestra New in 2022.

Gillam will also host an NZSO Foundation masterclass for saxophonists in Auckland on 17 November. More information is at nzso.co.nz

The Wellington concert will be livestreamed on streaming platform NZSO+.

Tickets are available via nzso.co.nz and ticketmaster.co.nz

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