Apollo Saxophone Quartet - Vintage Cartoons project.
‘A match made in cartoon heaven. By arranging Carl Stalling’s cartoon scores for saxophone quartet, they have created another layer of brilliance, mischief and humour, showing how four saxophones can mimic an orchestra and a whole array of sound effects. A totally unique project, superbly crafted and delivered with the razor-sharp timing and serious commitment that this silliest of music genres fully deserves’.
Kate Romano - Director - Stapleford Granary Arts Centre
" I was thrilled that we were able to host the Apollo Saxophone Quartet to open our 2025-2026 season of concerts for Shropshire Music Trust. They are absolutely the best at what they do, and performed a stunning programme of recent commissions and a second half of sheer brilliance, with transcriptions of classic scores played live to the relevant cartoons. Each performer in the quartet brings something special to an Apollo performance, which is engaging, virtuosic and above all just hugely enjoyable. Simply superb!”
John Moore - Director - Shrewsbury Concerts
Apollo Saxophone Quartet Review (2025)
The Apollo guys surprised from the start by embracing the setting with a dramatic procession from the back of the space to the stage, their four soprano saxophones keening the traditional Bulgarian folk-song, ‘Kaval Sviri’, in a blaze of esoteric plangency and triumph.
Four pieces from contemporary composers, specially commissioned by the Apollo, followed. ‘Trapped ’by Claire Cope turned the claustrophobia of Covid Lockdown into a jaunty mix of wistful meditation and a bouncy ostinato that capered along like a dune buggy through shifting sands of lovely, beguiling harmonies. Then they gathered the delicate threads of Dani Howard’s ‘Neverland’, an exploration of the inner child in all of us, with deft but fizzy
jouissance. ‘In the Fragrant Air ’by Grace-Evangeline Mason summoned up some wonderfully buttery, English pastoral inspired by Wordsworth’s poetry – even the breeze blown through the baritone sax encircled us as we were invited to wonder at its evocation of a starlit night. Django Bates‘ ’Travel Cartoons for the Blind ’closed the first half, and set up the second, with more explorations on the cartoonish joy/chaos that children offer in supreme tight and controlled ensemble. Real virtuosic stuff!
We were invited again to commune with our inner child for the Apollo’s current special project: ‘Merry Melodies, Silly Symphonies and Looney Tunes’. Here the quartet showcased their fantastic, quirky musicianship (and arranging skills) by accompanying vintage cartoons on a big screen behind them, complete with foley effects from an array of weird and wonderful whistles, xylophones, bits, bobs, and even coconut shells. It was a multi-media festival of exuberance, exhilaration, and unalloyed delight – the type that only quality live music can deliver.
James Fraser-Andrews - My Shrewsbury/Shropshire Star 24 Sept 2025 (Edited review)
