Stefano Pecci soprano saxophone
Luis Lanzarini alto saxophone
Alex Sebastianutto tenor saxophone
Valentino Funaro baritone saxophone
Founded in 2010, the MAC Saxophone Quartet is currently one of the most long-standing, solid, and multifaceted chamber ensembles on the international saxophone scene. The project was born from the meeting of four prominent soloists and professors who, in addition to sharing numerous first prizes in prestigious national and international competitions, bring an extraordinary wealth of individual experience to the ensemble.
Indeed, the individual members boast long-term collaborations with the most important Italian and foreign opera and symphonic institutions, consolidating an artistic stature that is reflected in the quartet’s expressive maturity.
In over fifteen years of activity, the MAC Saxophone Quartet has built a sweeping international career, performing across four continents and gracing world-class stages.
The group’s true strength lies in its extraordinary stylistic versatility. The quartet rejects any genre barriers, moving with natural ease between the reimagining of the classical repertoire, the evocations of traditional music, and the avant-garde of our time. This flexibility translates into a diverse catalog of concert programs and prestigious synergies with internationally renowned soloists.
This versatility is widely evidenced both by a mature discography acclaimed by audiences and critics alike (with emblematic albums such as Faces, Zahir, Viaje, and Miserere) and by their active role in today’s music scene.
The quartet is, in fact, a benchmark for new saxophone literature, being the dedicatee of numerous works written specifically for the ensemble by some of the most esteemed contemporary composers.
An ever-evolving journey that, by combining chamber music rigor, individual virtuosity, and a profound intellectual curiosity, continues to redefine the expressive possibilities and timeless charm of the saxophone quartet.
FACES
The saxophone as a medium of absolute expression. With its warm, timbrally rich, and extraordinarily contemporary voice, the instrument becomes in “Faces” a true probe of time, capable of exploring the folds of music history and delivering them to the present with a new and vibrant identity.
Thanks to the saxophone’s innate ability to move with ease between the most diverse musical genres, and supported by the extraordinary interpretive flexibility of the MAC Saxophone Quartet, the program unfolds through a gallery of sonic “faces.” The repertoire spans multiple artistic horizons, bringing together celebrated transcriptions from the classical repertoire and contemporary compositions written expressly for the ensemble. A multifaceted journey that juxtaposes different styles and eras: from the mysterious and fascinating evocations of the Middle East to the warm, enveloping Latin sounds, traversing geographical areas rich in cultural cross-pollination.
The result is a remarkably vast and whirlwind musical journey. A path that comes to life from pages and aesthetics distant in time (born long before Adolphe Sax’s invention) only to find themselves, in an instant, immersed in a completely contemporary dimension. This creates a subtle yet intensely profound liaison, a suspended bridge between past and future that amplifies the mystery, charm, and sense of adventure of the magical “Nickel Pipe.”
Repertoire
Tu m’uccidi, o crudele (Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa / Salvatore Sciarrino)
Tre pezzi (Domenico Scarlatti/Gabriel Piernè)
- Presto giocoso
- Serenata
- Scherzo
Passaggi (Pepito Ros) dedicated to MAC Saxophone Quartet
- Amarna
- Invocazione
- Guerriero di luce
Albanian folk song (Paolo Marzocchi)
Song for Tony (Michael Nyman)
Viaggio (Richard Galliano)
Vuelvo al sur (Astor Piazzolla)
Morronga la milonga (Javier Girotto)
MISERERE - the future of tradition
“Miserere” is a sought-after crossover project rooted in Italy’s noblest musical heritage, in which the art of improvisation typical of the jazz idiom is wedded to the stylistic features of the past. A millennium of masterpieces drawn from the ancient Gregorian antiphonaries and medieval laudaries, from the Renaissance counterpoint of the Roman and Venetian schools to touching on melodrama; a journey through time and the Italic sound entirely interpreted by artists who have distinguished themselves for their ability to renew tradition. The pieces all have unreleased arrangements, specially prepared by Mario Corvini to enhance both the refined phrasing of Rosario Giuliani and the enveloping, searching timbres of the MAC Saxophone Quartet, one of the quartets most appreciated for their work in protecting and innovating the Italian school.
ARTISTS
Rosario Giuliani – saxophone
MAC Saxophone Quartet
Mario Corvini – arrangements
Saint Louis Management
www.saintlouis.eu
Francesca Gregori
francesca@slmc.it
Repertoire
Guido d’Arezzo (X-XII sec.), Ut queant laxis
Laudario di Cortona (XII sec.), Magdalena degna da laudare
Giovanni Gabrieli (XVI sec.), Canzon seconda a quattro
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (XVI sec.), Missa Brevis – Agnus Dei
Gregorio Allegri (XVI-XVII sec.), Miserere
Claudio Monteverdi (XVII sec.), Toccata e prologo da “Orfeo”
Arcangelo Corelli (XVII-XVIII sec.), Adagio dal Concerto Grosso op. 6
Antonio Vivaldi (XVII-XVIII sec.), 1mo mov da “l’Inverno”
Gioacchino Rossini (XVII-XIX sec.), da “Il barbiere di Siviglia”
Gaetano Donizetti (XIX sec.), Una furtiva lagrima da “Elisir d’Amore”
Gershwin/Bernstein
Dynamic and ambitious musical project whose warm, passionate and persistent sound of saxophone joins the bright purity of the piano and the ancestral rhythm of the percussion instruments.
A valuable sound distillate that summarizes in a few elements the enormous tonal potential of an entire symphony orchestra. An unprecedented and engaging interpretation that manages to make the masterpieces of two of the most important North American musicians of the twentieth century shine and vibrate: George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein.
The American symphonic music of the twentieth century embodies all the elements that characterize that great country: the cultural varieties of the population merge into a new proud American identity; a new people and a new nation that encompasses in its music the fast-paced Caribbean rhythms, gospel/blues singing, nascent jazz and the academic tradition of Europe. The genius of Gershwin and Bernstein was to sublimate all these characteristics in an orderly and balanced way, allowing us to freely and easily grasp the “American dream” in compositions of excellent value even on a formal level.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Roberto Plano – piano
MAC Saxophone Quartet
Alessio Benedetti – percussions
Valter Sivilotti – arrangements
Repertoire
West Side Story, Danze Sinfoniche
Prologue (Allegro moderato)
Somewhere (Adagio)
Scherzo (Vivace e leggero)
Mambo (Meno presto)
Cha-Cha (Andantino con grazia)
Meeting Scene (Meno mosso)
Cool Fugue (Allegretto)
Rumble (Molto allegro)
Finale (Adagio)
Leonard Bernstein
(piano, saxophone quartet and percussions)
Rhapsody in Blue
George Gershwin
(piano, saxophone quartet and percussions)
Cuban Overture
George Gershwin
(piano, saxophone quartet and percussions)
L'uomo mascherato
In a contemporary world enveloped in multimedia elements, where speed and movement represent the status of modern humankind, the new project of MAC Saxophone Quartet fits in synergy with the eclectic voice of the singer Luisa Cottifogli on original music by the composer Valter Sivilotti.
An extremely versatile and captivating show that develops from the idea of using multimedia, in particular the video projection of a comic that interacts with music, singing and acting.
Music is not used by Valter Sivilotti as a simple soundtrack for the images but it interacts and supports the development of the story, amplifying aspects of the chain of events in a complex structure linked to contemporary expressions, including those most connected to the world of art/cultivated music.
This is possible because of the excellent synergy obtained by the MAC Saxophone Quartet, at ease in that tourbillon of styles and genres that have characterized the musical ‘900 up to the present day, and the voice of Luisa Cottifogli that presents various attitudes ranging from singing to recited voice, from whisper to “broken” voice and shows her great flexibility and versatility.
All this in an emphasis of animation/interaction where the playful aspect becomes an integral part of the experience because of the expressive possibilities involved in this project: aspects of the story are lived again in a vivid and real-like way, or distorted or presented in a grotesque way, giving the audience the opportunity to live and relive aspects related to childhood and every other moment of real life in a synaesthesia of senses and emotions that accompany us throughout our life path.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Luisa Cottifogli – voice
MAC Saxophone Quartet
Valter Sivilotti – compositions