Concertino with Gerard McChrystal

We were thrilled and honoured to perform live for the very first time with our Patron Gerard McChrystal on Sunday 24 November. Held at St Hugh’s Church, Market Harborough, this concert was a sellout and raised an amazing £805 for the St Hugh’s Cygnet Fundraising Project.
The capacity audience was treated to a varied programme that included a number of original compositions for the saxophone tRead More…

Phoenix takes to the airwaves

Our Patron Gerard McChrystal and our soprano/alto sax player Jane Smith were live on Harborough FM this evening talking about all things sax and the joint fundraising concert we have coming up on 24 November at St Hugh’s Church in Market Harborough. Click on the link below to listen to the interview. Thanks for having us Owen! And to find out more about the concerts we have coming uRead More…

Phoenix ends summer season on a high!

Phoenix got back to rehearsals last Sunday, following another successful season of summer concerts that culminated in a sell out performance at St Mary Magdalene Church in the village of Cottingham, Northamptonshire on 31 August (pictured above). Here are a few more pics from our summer season. Our summer season kicked off on 12 May with our first ever performance at Abington Park in NorthamptRead More…

Phoenix welcomes sponsor to first summer gig

Phoenix had a surprise visitor to their first 2024 summer performance at the weekend. The orchestra, who were performing in the bandstand at Abington Park, Northampton on Sunday afternoon, were thrilled to see Tom Bruton, owner of their sponsor Saxtet Publications, out in the audience! “It was great to see Phoenix Saxophone Orchestra and to hear lots of Saxtet Publications titles being perfRead More…

Patron joins Phoenix for Concertino

We were delighted to welcome our Patron, world-renowned saxophonist Gerard McChrystal, to our rehearsal recently to work through a new, modern concerto by Australian composer Matthew Orlovich. This exhilarating piece, ‘Concertino’, is a concerto in three movements that Phoenix is planning to perform live in November, with Gerard taking the lead on solo alto saxophone. Gerard is a true iRead More…

Saxophonists jazz it up with Dan Forshaw

Sax maestro Dan Forshaw visited Market Harborough at the weekend to run an all day jazz workshop for saxophonists, all keen to try their hand at a bit of improvisation! Organised by Harborough’s Phoenix Saxophone Orchestra, 20 sax players came along to Church Langton Community Hall on Sunday 24 March to work on pieces by Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, to name Read More…

Merry Christmas!

2023 has been a hectic but highly rewarding year for Phoenix, topped off by two Christmas concerts, at Desborough Library and Community Hub on 9 December and at St Helen’s Church, Sibbertoft the following week on 15 December. We’d like to thank everyone who has supported us this year – it’s been a real blast! Here’s a little something to get you in the Christmas spirit, recorded at the St HRead More…

All-day sax session gives players a real workout

Saxophonists got a real musical workout recently, when Phoenix Saxophone Orchestra’s Patron, international performing saxophonist Gerard McChrystal, came along to put us through our paces at an all day workshop. Gerard joined nine members of Phoenix and 12 very welcome guests at Church Langton Community Hall on 12 November to work on ensemble playing, giving expert advice on rhythm, technique,Read More…

Phoenix returns for Harrington Concert Series

Phoenix Saxophone Orchestra were delighted to perform at St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Harrington on Sunday 15 October, for the 2023 Harrington Concert Series.
Back by popular demand after a very well received performance as part of last year’s concert series, the orchestra delivered a varied programme with music ranging from the 16th Century to the modern day, including the very first public pRead More…

A Summer of Sax

Phoenix has had a busy Summer entertaining the crowds at parks and bandstands across Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire this year. We were particularly pleased to be invited to play in the Bishop’s Walled Garden at Southwell Minster (pictured above) as part of the prestigious Southwell Music Festival in August, and to have performed for the first time in the beautiful surrounRead More…