SIGNUM saxophone quartet
Blaž Kemperle (soprano) | Erik Nestler (alto) | Alan Lužar (tenor) | David Brand (baritone)
Founded in 2006, the SIGNUM saxophone quartet is based in Cologne, Germany; Erik Nestler and David Brand are German, Blaž Kemperle and Alan Lužar are from Slovenia. They studied with Daniel Gauthier (Cologne), Lars Mlekusch (Vienna) and Arno Bornkamp (Amsterdam). The quartet regularly receives inspiration from the Quatuor Ébène, the Artemis Quartet and Gabor Takács-Nagy.
After winning awards at international competitions in Lugano and Berlin, this exciting young ensemble is nowadays invited to perform in the most important concert halls and festivals in Europe; in 2013 they made their debut at Carnegie Hall NY. One of the most important recognitions for them has been the recent nomination “Rising Stars 2014/2015” through the European Concert Hall Organization (ECHO).
For the upcoming season the SIGNUM saxophone quartet will perform at Barbican Centre London, Konzerthaus Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Palais des Beaux-Arts Bruxelles, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Megaron Athens, Teatro della Pergola Florence, Gulbenkian Lisbon, as well as Philharmonie Luxembourg, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie Cologne, Beethovenfest Bonn, and in Rome, Porto, Birmingham, Basel, Bern, Ljubljana, Belgrade and Budapest.
From the beginning of the 2013/2014 season SIGNUM saxophone quartet started working with Folkert Uhde (ION/Radialsystem Berlin) with an exciting project about Bach’s Art of the Fugue; with the Cellist Mario Brunello; and they have performed several concerts for orchestra and sax quartet (Bob Mintzer, Rhythm of the Americas). A particular pleasure is the collaboration with the Grammy Award winner Chilly Gonzales.
The first CD of the quartet debut with works by Grieg, Ravel, Bartók and Shostakovich has been published by the label ARS.
In addition to the concert life itself SIGNUM is involved in education and charity projects, such as Lars Vogt’s Rhapsody in School.