Saturday 30th October 2021 at 7.30pm
Bo’ness Town Hall
Saxophone and Harp
Tickets £14, U26 £6, Children free accompanied by an adult
Reservations can also be made by text, or by calling 07731 614179
PROGRAMME:
BUMCKE: Notturno Op 45
BRUCH: Kol Nidrei Op 47
McGUIRE: Purple Bamboo Melody (arr. for saxophone and harp)
LATEEF; Romance for Soprano Saxophone and Harp
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
(arr. Dufour and Sinclair)
BabaYaga are the unusual combination of saxophone and harp. The duo’s name refers to one of the movements from ‘Pictures at an exhibition’ by Mussorgsky, inspired by a witch from Russian folklore.
Taking advantage of the varied sound colours, BabaYaga are committed to exploring repertoire for saxophone and harp and contributing to the development of it.
Karen Dufour
Graduating with a Masters degree in saxophone performance Karen studied with Josef Pacewicz. During her studies she won the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s Apprenticeship Scheme and the Mary D Adams Prize for Chamber Music.
In 2011 Karen was awarded the Creative Scotland Personal Development Award allowing her to study in Europe with soprano saxophonist Christine Rall, of the Rascher Saxophone Quartet.
She now enjoys a varied career of chamber and orchestral music including performing with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Karen has performed for many dignitaries including Prince Andrew, Prince Charles and Lady Camilla Parker Bowles and one of the world’s most famous enthusiast of the saxophone, former US President Bill Clinton. Recent projects include working with Turner Prize winner Charlotte Prodger.
Karen is the soprano saxophonist in the award winning saxophone quartet Sax Ecosse. Recipients of the Enterprise Music Scotland Residency Project 2008 and are alumni of the prestigious Live Music Now scheme. Sax Ecosse have enjoyed great success as a chamber group performing live on BBC Radio Scotland Classics unwrapped, in Europe and the UK including The Edinburgh International Festival, returning artists at The Emerging Artist Series- The Usher Hall 2012 and 2009, Celtic Connections, the 16th World Saxophone Congress, St Andrew’s and 14th World Saxophone Congress, Slovenia, Norway’s St Olav’s Festival and collaborations with Maltings Theatre. She also performs around Scotland with her saxophone and harp duo Baba Yaga, performing on their exciting project of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition for saxophone and harp.
Gwen Sinclair
Gwen grew up in St. Andrews and moved to Glasgow in 1999 to study with Karen Vaughan (co-principal harp, LSO), graduating in 2004 with a BA (hons) and PGDipMusic (Performance). Since then Gwen has been enjoying a busy and varied freelance career playing with professional orchestras, notably the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. She also orks in chamber groups and performs at weddings. After many years teaching the clarsach at Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu and pedal harp in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's junior department, Gwen has been Curator of Music at Renfield St. Stephen's Church in Glasgow.
In addition to classical music on the pedal harp Gwen also performs with the clarsach and the traditional music of Scotland and Wales. She was part of the ground-breaking project 10 Mewn Bws in Wales. She represented Wales at the international Lorient Festival Interceltique. and also has also performed in the duo, Tornish, with flautist Tim Orrell. Gwen has published three books of music for clàrsach, published by Alaw Music and some of her arrangements have been included in the Trinity College graded exam syllabus. 2019 saw the launch of her first solo album, Mentro.