Phoenix Saxophone Orchestra

Concertino with Gerard McChrystal
2024-11-24 15:30 - 17:00 UTC | St Hugh’s Church, Granville Street, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 9HF, United Kingdom
THIS CONCERT IS NOW SOLD OUT

We are delighted to be joining with our Patron Gerard McChrystal to perform a fundraising concert in November!
The Sunday afternoon concert will combine solo pieces from Gerard and ensemble pieces from the orchestra, culminating in a performance of ‘Concertino’, a funky new concerto by Australian composer Matthew Orlovich, that Phoenix will be performing with Gerard taking the lead on solo alto saxophone.
Through its three movements, Concertino ebbs and flows between buoyant, sparkling music and slower, more introspective lyricism. The soloist’s narrative draws on a variety of musical ideas, including some courage-inducing fanfares, a heart-felt aria and some altissimo register tightrope walking. The sax orchestra’s fingers are kept busy throughout, with soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxophones creating a kaleidoscopic setting for the soloist, by layering snippets of melody, trills, drones, some pizzicato-like punctuations and occasional slow-burning chord progressions.
Tickets for the concert are £12 each (£5 for under 16s), and all profits will go to the St Hugh’s Cygnet Fundraising Project, which aims to build a welcoming, safe space for church and community to meet. Partly funded by proceeds from the sale of the nearby church hall, the Cygnet Project aims to provide a larger community space within St Hugh’s Church, separated from the worship area by a movable glass screen, along with a meeting room, kitchen, accessible toilets and storage, all reconfigured on one level for ease of access.
The Cygnet Project is so named because the Church’s patron saint St Hugh is known to have had a swan as a pet. The Church is starting with a cygnet so that, over time, when the project is finished, it will have grown into a swan. For more more information about St Hugh’s and the Cygnet Fundraising Project, see harborough-anglican.org.uk.
Tickets are available by emailing transfig@harborough-anglican.org.uk.
About Gerard McChrystal
Multi award winning saxophonist Gerard McChrystal was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, and now lives in Leicester, He has played with leading musicians and orchestras in more than 35 countries worldwide and has recorded 15 CDs.You can find more information about Gerard McChrystal at saxsaxsax.com.

Christmas Concert, Sibbertoft Church
2024-12-06 19:30 - 21:00 | St Helen’s Church, Sibbertoft, Church Street, Sibbertoft, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 9UA, United Kingdom

Christmas Concert, Desborough Library
2024-12-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Desborough Library and Community Hub, High Street, Desborough, Northamptonshire, NN14 2QS, United Kingdom
We are delighted to have been invited back to Desborough Library for a Christmas Concert. We’ll be performing a variety of festive tunes along with pieces from our regular repertoire of light classical, pop, jazz and big band favourites, as well as some original music written especially for saxophone ensemble.
Tickets are £12 to include a glass of wine or soft drink. For tickets, please pop into the library, call them on 01536 532415, or email them on dhubcontact@gmail.com.
All profits from the concert will be shared between the library and Phoenix Saxophone Orchestra, both of which are registered charities.

View showreel

Sax workshop with Alastair Penman
2025-03-02 10:00 - 16:00 | Langton Community Hall, Stonton Road, Church Langton, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7SZ, United Kingdom
An all day, open workshop for all saxophonists with Alastair Penman. The cost is £30 includng refreshements and we’d be delighted for non-Phoenix members to join us.
About the workshop
The workshop will focus on playing together in a large saxophone ensemble and, throughout the day, Alastair will give tips and advice on different elements of ensemble playing.
He will also give advice on elements of saxophone technique ranging from sound production and intonation through to tonguing and improving your rhythmic accuracy. He will also be happy to answer specific saxophone related questions.
Much of the music will be drawn from Alastair’s extensive catalogue of compositions and there will also be some much loved favourites for the instrument. Music will be around grade 4-5 standard and parts will be made available in advance, so there’s no need for sight reading.
How to book
If you’d like to come along, please download our leaflet for full details, including how to pay.
And if you have any queries, please email Liz Pearce on treasurer@phoenixsax.org.uk
About Alastair Penman
Alastair Penman is Professor of Saxophone at the Guildhall School of Music and enjoys a busy career as a saxophonist, clarinettist, composer and educator. His solo albums have been played on BBC radio and internationally, and you can hear his playing on film and video game scores including Deadpool and Wolverine, A Haunting in Venice and Call of Duty.
Alastair has performed with orchestras including the London Contemporary Orchestra, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, London Concert Orchestra and Philharmonia, including at the BBC Proms. Alastair’s compositions are featured on the ABRSM and Trinity Saxophone Syllabus and are published by Saxtet Publications and Sax Music Scores.
Alastair is performing artist for Henri Selmer Paris, Vandoren UK, Buffet Crampon and Key Leaves. More information at alastairpenman.co.uk

Abington Park
2025-04-13 14:00 - 17:00 | Abington Park, Northampton, NN1 5LW, United Kingdom
We’re delighted to be taking part in the Northampton Bands in the Park series, which is this year celebrating its 125th anniversary!
We’ll be performing at the beautiful Victorian bandstand in Abington Park, the oldest and most popular park in Northampton. It’s home to the Abington Park Museum, a cafe, flower displays, lakes and a garden for the blind. Beneath the surface lies the archaeological remains of the old medieval village.
Entrance is free.
View full programme of events

Old Grammar School, Market Harborough
2025-05-11 13:30 - 14:30 | The Old Grammar School, 40 The Square, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7PA, United Kingdom
Phoenix will be performing a 1 hour pop-up concert in the undercroft at the iconic Old Grammar School in Market Harborough, as part of the Creative Harborough and Market Harborough and the Bowdens’s Charity busking intitiative.
We’ll be playing to raise money for the town’s Jubilee Food Bank, where one of our sax players volunteers. Please come along and see us, and do pop some coins (or notes) in our collection bucket!

New Park, Melton Mowbray
2025-06-22 14:45 - 16:30 | Melton Bandstand, New Park, Play Close, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE13 0PP, United Kingdom
Phoenix is pleased to be returning to perform at the Grade II listed Melton Bandstand in New Park, near the Town Centre, as part of the town’s Summer Bands Concert programme. Free entry.

Isle of Wight Tour
2025-06-27 - 2025-06-30 | Isle of Wight
We’re excited to announce that we are going on tour to the Isle of Wight in June, to join up and perform with the Island’s Wight Sax, and their honorary president Dave Plummer AKA Staxofsax!

We’ll also be performing a couple of solo concerts, as well as taking some time to see the sights. Do come along and see us!

Wight Sax

Saxophone Orchestra Manchester
2025-09-27 19:00 - 21:00 | St. Michael and All Angels’ Church, Market Place, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 1DY, United Kingdom
We are very excited to to be joining Saxophone Orchestra Manchester for a joint concert, which will take place at St Michael and All Saints Church in Macclesfield.
Tickets are now on sale. Buy tickets here

Harrington Concert Series
2025-10-19 15:00 - 16:30 | St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Harrington, Church Lane, Harrington, Leicestershire, NN6 9NX, United Kingdom
We are delighted to be returning to perform at Harrington Church as part of the popular Harrington Concert Series.
We look forward to seeing a few familiar faces, and hopefully some new ones, and we’ll have lots of new music for you to enjoy!
Tickets are £12 each from Harrington Concerts on musicharrington@gmail.com, tel: 01536 713944.
For more inforamtion, please see harringtonconcerts.co.uk

Christmas concert, Desborough Library
2025-12-13 19:00 - 21:30 | Desborough Library and Community Hub, High Street, Desborough, Northamptonshire, NN14 2QS, United Kingdom
We are delighted to have been invited back to Desborough Library for a Christmas Concert. We’ll be performing a variety of festive tunes along with pieces from our regular repertoire of light classical, pop, jazz and big band favourites, as well as some original music written especially for saxophone ensemble.
Tickets are £12 to include a glass of wine or soft drink. For tickets, please pop into the library, call them on 01536 532415, or email them on dhubcontact@gmail.com.
All profits from the concert will be shared between the library and Phoenix Saxophone Orchestra, both of which are registered charities.

Sax workshop with Andy Tweed and Karen Street
2026-04-19 10:00 - 16:00 | Langton Community Hall, Stonton Road, Church Langton, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7SZ, United Kingdom
We are delighted to be hosting this saxophone workshop, led by Karen Street and Andy Tweed.
The workshop costs £30 and is open to all saxophonists (recommended playing standard grade 5 and above).
Join Andy and Karen for an inspiring and fun play day. They will be bringing some different styles of music to play including Avalon Suite, an original work inspired by the mystical island of Glastonbry Tor and a brand new arrangement of Moon River. Karen’s writing always makes sure that parts are interesting for all players.
Karen will also be bringing some specially written exercises to help players with their rhythmic playing, ensemble playing and musicianship. Andy will give advice on how to make a great sound and tips on technique and we will finish off the day with an accordion and saxophone duet.
Parts will be provided in advice, so you don’t need to worry about sight reading. Please bring a music stand and a packed lunch. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided and are included in the price. Pleas bring your own lunch
How to book
If you’d like to come along, please download our leaflet for full details, including how to pay.
And if you have any queries, please email Liz Pearce on treasurer@phoenixsax.org.uk
About Karen Street
Karen is a freelance accordion and saxophone player and her wide-ranging skills means that she delves into classical, contemporary, jazz and tango hence the diverse projects she has been involved in including: Martin Taylor, Tim Garland, Mike Westbrook, Maria Schneider Big Band, Grace Jones, The Nash Ensemble, Ice Breaker Opera North, BBC Philharmonic, the RPO, WNO, Royal Opera House , Ballet Rambert and the Strictly Come Dancing live band.
Karen is also a composer and writes educational music for saxophone and various other ensembles and her music is published by Boosey & Hawkes, June Emerson and Saxtet Publications. She has produced four jazz CD’s of her own compositions and arrangements.
About Andy Tweed
Andy is from Northern Ireland and studied clarinet and saxophone at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in the late 1980s. He joined Saxtet while still at music college and over its eighteen year life it became one the UK’s leading saxophone groups performing all over the world with their unique repertoire of their own compositions and arrangements.
Andy continues to perform in both jazz and classical settings across the UK and teaches at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, European Youth Summer Music and the Cape Cornwall Saxophone Course.
He is a regular member of the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra, Carismático Tango, the Pinewood Saxophone Quartet with Kyle Horch and Delta Saxophone Quartet and is seen regularly on West End shows.

St Mary Magdalene Church, Cottingham
2026-05-30 19:00 - 21:00 | St Mary Magdalene Church, Cottingham, Church Street,, Cottingham, Market Harborough, LE16 8XU, United Kingdom
We are delighted to be returning to St Mary Magdalene Church, Cottingham, following a sellout concert in Summer 2024.
Tickets are £12 to include a glass of wine and nibbles (£6 for under 16s).
To book, please contact Angela on cottinghamchurch@gmail.com, or WhatsApp to 07594 682671.

Joint fundraising concert with Rugby Recorders
2026-07-19 15:00 - 17:00 | St Andrew’s Church, Rugby, Church Street, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV21 3PT, United Kingdom
We are delighted to be joining up with the Rugby Recorder Ensemble for this joint fundraising concert at St Andrew’s Church, Rugby.
The concert is a charity event with all profits going to Rugby’s Myton Hospice.
This concert provides a unique opportunity to experience the sight and sound of more than 30 musicians playing 14 different instruments – six different types of saxophone and eight types of recorder, from sopranino to sub bass.
The concert will feature separate ensemble pieces from Rugby Recorders and Phoenix, plus a joint piece – Viadana’s Sinfonia ‘La Bergamasca’ – and the world premiere performance of Steve Marshall’s ‘Concertino’, a concerto for recorders and solo soprano saxophone, to be performed by Samuel Beddard.
Ticket information

Tickets are £10 (£5 for Under 16s) from Ticketsource.
You can book online by clicking the ‘Book Now‘ button above, or call the Ticketsource Box Office on 0333 666 3366.
The telephone box office is open Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays) ffrom 9am to 7pm, and Saturdays from 9am to 5pm.

Christmas Concert
2026-12-12 19:00 - 21:00 | Desborough Library and Community Hub, High Street, Desborough, Northamptonshire, NN14 2QS, United Kingdom
We are delighted to have been invited back to Desborough Library for a Christmas Concert. We’ll be performing a variety of festive tunes along with pieces from our regular repertoire of light classical, pop, jazz and big band favourites, as well as some original music written especially for saxophone ensemble. There’ll also be some Christmas Carols for you to sing along with!
Ticket information to follow

Joint concert with Yorkshire Saxophone Choir
2027-06-19 19:00 - 21:00 | St Edmund’s Church, Lidgett Park Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS8 1JN, United Kingdom
We are delighted to be joining with the Yorkshire Saxopone Choir for this joint concert. More information to follow…
