University of Florida
2014 International Saxophone Symposium

The University of Florida International Saxophone Symposium celebrated international artists to our campus for master classes and concerts in a Festival atmosphere. This year, we welcome three artists from France: composer/pianist Denis Levaillant, saxophonist Jean-Michel Goury, and pianist Yves Josset; . Mr. Levaillant is a highly-respected composer active in many styles and genres of music whose music has been featured in films, on stage, and at the Paris Opera. Mr. Goury is an internationally renowned soloist, new music specialist, and Professor at the Conservatoire National de Region de Boulogne-Billancourt, France. Yves Josset is also a well-travelled musician and is Professor of piano at the Conservatoire National de Musique de La Creuse. This year's two-day event will feature two multimedia symposiums which address topics of interest to performers and audiences alike--Film Music, Jazz influences in concert music, the composer-performer relationship, and directions in new French Music. Our artists will also present five different master classes (in saxophone, piano improvisation, and composition) where they will work with students from the University of Florida and other central-Florida institutions. The day will also feature a mini-concert by University of Florida saxophone ensembles. Our event will culminate in a multi-dimensional concert of new music that will involve all of our guest artists in a variety of roles.
All events are free and open to the public.

Schedule of Events

Friday, March 28
12:50 pm (MUB 101) - Symposium I
- The relation between improvisation, performance and composition.
- A New French Music: The French tradition and the influence of Jazz.
Presented by Denis Levaillant, composer and pianist,
Jean-Michel Goury, saxophone, Yves Josset, piano;
4:00 pm (MUB 121) - Saxophone Master Class with Jean-Michel Goury
4:00 pm (MUB 145) - Composition Master Class with Denis Levaillant

Saturday, March 29
10:00 am (MUB 101) - Saxophone Master Class with Jean-Michel Goury
10:00 am (MUB 121) - "Mastering the art of improvisation on the piano" with Denis Levaillant
1:30 pm (MUB 101) - Symposium II
- An imaginary folklore: Jazz as an integral part of the "new music."
- The Cinematic Edge: Music as a dramatic art.
Presented by Denis Levaillant, composer and pianist,
Jean-Michel Goury, saxophone, Yves Josset, piano;
3:00 pm (MUB 101) - Saxophone Master Class with Jean-Michel Goury
4:30 pm (MUB 101) - UF Saxophone Ensembles Concert
5:30 pm (MUB 101) - Guest Artist Recital: Jean-Michel Goury, saxophone; Yves Josset, piano; Denis Levaillant, composer and pianist

This series is made possible with assistance from the University of Florida International Center, the France Florida Research Center, the Office of Research and Graduate Programs, the University of Florida School of Music.

Artist Biographies

Denis Levaillant portrait French composer and pianist Denis Levaillant is one of today’s major musical talents. Since 1973 he has managed to develop a personal, highly varied oeuvre, allying the rhythmic energy of jazz and popular musics to a new orchestral colour in the French tradition, appealing to all audiences. 

He approached music by studying classical piano, demonstrating precocious gifts. At the same time, he distinguished himself brilliantly in general studies at the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand and the Sorbonne in Paris, where he earned a Masters in philosophy in 1974. In 1983, Denis Levaillant was awarded a fellowship to the Villa Medici in Rome.

Initially making a name for himself with the general public in the 1970s as a performer and top-notch improviser (his book L’Improvisation musicale, published in 1980, has become a reference on the subject). In the 1980s, he was one of the pioneers in musical theatre in France, and the originality of his opera O.P.A. Mia (My Tender Bid), with sets by Enki Bilal and premiered in 1990 at the Avignon Festival and the Opéra-Comique in Paris, made a strong impression.

In the following decade, he devoted most of his creative efforts to symphonic writing. His ballet, La Petite danseuse, commissioned by the Paris National Opera, met with great success at the Paris Opera Garnier in 2003 and has been revived in 2005 and 2010.

Winner, in particular, of the RAI Prize at the Italia Prize in 1988, Denis Levaillant has had most of his recorded catalogue regularly synchronised in cinema and television the world over. 

For more information, please visit: http://www.denislevaillant.net/english/menu.php

Jean-Michel Goury photo Jean-Michel Goury is one of the world’s foremost interpreters of contemporary masterworks for the saxophone. His performances and recordings have received high praise from critics worldwide.

He was born in Tonneins, France and was nurtured in music by his father, Pierre Goury, Secretary of the French National Association of Bands. He studied at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Bordeaux and received the Médaille d’Or (given unanimously by the jury) in saxophone while studying with Jean-Marie Londeix. He also completed distinguished musical studies in musical analysis with François Rossé, wind ensemble conducting with André Leclercq, and chamber music with Francis Vallone.

He has won first prize in a number of national and international music competitions, including Aix-le-Bains in 1980, where he received congratulatory remarks from the president of the jury, legendary saxophonist Marcel Mule.

Since receiving the Certificat d’Aptitude (France’s highest teaching diploma in music) in 1982, Jean-Michel has taught in the French Conservatory system, first at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Landes and, since 1986, at one of France’s most modern schools, the Conservatoire National de Musique de Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris.

Jean-Michel Goury has presented a number of pedagogical workshops, retreats, mini-courses and master classes on contemporary music performance in France, Europe and North America. He has been invited to perform and give lectures at prestigious festivals in Geneva, Odessa, Salzburg, Witten, Vandoeuvre, Lucerne, Vilnius, and Boston.

He has performed as soloist with the Orchestre Symphonique des Jeunesses Musicales de Bavière, the Ensemble Orchestral d'Italie, the Orchestre National de Chambre de Toulouse, and with wind ensmbles in Edmonton, Saskatoon, et Montréal, Canada. As a recital and chamber musicaln, he premieres and promotes new works by: Boudreau, Isaksson, Kynaston, Jakubowski, Lauba, Minamikawa, Mintchev, Myazawa, Pavlenko, Reibel, Rolin, Rossé, Sauguet, Sauvanet, Savouret, Schilling, Carlosema, Grouvel, Karlins.

He is also an active chamber musician, performing several tours each year with these ensembles: the Xasax Quartet, the Apollinaire Quartet, the Ensemble Itinéraire, Contre-champ, and Klangform, in France, Germany, the United States, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Lithuania, Austria, Ukraine, Netherlands, Israel, and Canada.

Jean-Michel Goury has collaborated with numerous avant-garde opera and theater performances (Péniche-opéra, Théâtre des Amandiers, New-Morning) in the premieres of more than 100 works written by composers since 1979 (Asperghis, Berio, Ballif, Sharp, Seffer, Reibel, Lubat, Rossé, Sauguet, Pesson, Lauba, Shrude, Levaillant, Savouret, Guy, Rolin, Isakson,…).

He has recorded twelve compact discs on the Hat Art, Erol Records, Alba Musica, Kairos, and MFA labels.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.goury-josset.net/presentation_anglaise.html

Yves Josset photo Pianist Yves Josset was born in Tours and is currently Professor of Piano at the Conservatoire National de Musique de La Creuse. He studied with Nicole Affriat, Charles Lilamand and Jean-Claude Henriot, and received the first prize (gold medal in piano) from the Conservatories of Music in both Tours and Orléans. He has traveled widely, working and studying in masterclasses in Great Britain (Vlado Perlemuter), the United States (James Like), Canada (Ann Spilzberg) and the former USSR (Boris Bekhtierev). His recordings and concerts with the Goury-Josset ensemble have led him around the world. He has recorded two compact discs, « Sunthesis : Les Septs Iles » (QM6901, Paris) and « L’Ensemble International de Saxophones » (ACD0086, Tokyo), as piano solist with the Bordeaux International Saxophone Ensemble in Tokyo in 1988

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