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Alastair Penman
Although classically trained, Alastair enjoys exploring many musical worlds; such influences can be heard in both his compositions and performances, which often transcend genre definition.
As a soloist, Alastair has given performances at venues including Milton Court Concert Hall, Trinity and St Catharine’s College Chapels (Cambridge), and the Concert Hall and Carole Nash Recital Room at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has also made numerous concerto appearances, including opening the 2012 Wycombe Arts Festival. In April 2015, Alastair was a guest recitalist at the Canterbury Christ Church University Saxophone Day, and he will be performing at the RNCM Saxophone Day in November 2015, presenting material from his debut album, Electric Dawn.
In an ensemble setting, Alastair has performed with the Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra, Ardente Opera, The Beethoven Ensemble, Ensemble BPM, and Cambridge Touring Opera. He has also appeared with jazz groups at Montreux and London Jazz Festivals as well as at jazz clubs across Europe. Alastair is soprano saxophonist with the award-winning Borealis Saxophone Quartet, who released their debut album The North in 2014 and are Park Lane Group Young Artists 2014/15. In an orchestral setting, Alastair has had the pleasure of working with conductors including Sir Roger Norrington, Dimitry Sitkovetsky, Baldur Bronnimann, David Hill and Stephen Cleobury, and in the jazz arena he has performed with Mike Gibbs, Clare Teal, Steve Waterman, Mark Nightingale, Gareth Lockrane, Julian Arguelles, Liane Carroll, Issie Barratt and John Helliwell. Alastair’s talents have been recognised with awards from the City Music Foundation, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the RNCM (Fewkes and Harwood Scholarships) and St Catharine’s College. Alastair was also a finalist in the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Competition 2012 and the RNCM Gold Medal Competition 2013.
Supported by the City Music Foundation, Alastair’s debut solo album, Electric Dawn was released in November 2015 on Sospiro Records. The album features new compositions for saxophone and electronics and is produced by the legendary saxophonist John Harle.
http://www.alastairpenman.co.uk
Awards
Inaugural City Music Foundation Award (2013) Harwood Scholarship (RNCM) (2012) Fewkes Scholarship (RNCM) (2011) Countess of Munster Musical Trust Postgraduate Study Award (2011 and 2012) Music Tuition Award from St Catharine’s College (2010) Dudley Robinson Award from St Catharine’s College (2010) Park Lane Group Young Artist 2014/15 (with Borealis Saxophone Quartet)
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Cassie Kinoshi: Gratitude
by Chris May
Although she emerged on the British jazz scene as part of the cohort of saxophonists associated with London's post-2015 underground scene--among them Nubya Garcia, Binker Golding, Camilla George and Shabaka Hutchings--alto saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi has always stood somewhat apart. Her membership of the Afrobeat-inspired band Kokoroko placed her firmly in that underground scene, but her embrace of the Western classical tradition has given her aesthetic trajectory singularity. She has collaborated with London Sinfonietta, Philharmonia Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra, and ...
read more"Alastair Penman created surpassingly beautiful music... The record is excellent...Each piece had a perfection of its own and the combination of sax and electronics never sounded cluttered but pure and diamond-sharp, tonally burnished and singing free on both instruments...Thanks to RNCM for a masterpiece of programming." Review by Peter Fay of Electric Dawn Live Performance at the RNCM Saxophone Day 2015
"Throughout, Penman's saxophone playing is exemplary and the whole makes an appealing and intriguing disc which successfully mixes Penman's live saxophone with the electronics to create something rather different. Displaying Penman's virtuosity, the music on the disc encompasses a wide range of style." 4-star review of Electric Dawn by Robert Hugill, planethugill.com (Full review here)
