“The Dokwerk Saxophone Quartet is coming back for another Italian date in December”. Do you remember the promise? This was how we left: at the Trevi’s Fountain, throwing coins and celebrating Carbonara.
But we are not just foodies, we keep promises and these promises took us to Fermo, in Italy. After a long flight to Fiumicino, that took off at 6 a.m., we arrived in the land of sun and warm weather (that should be Italy, in my dreams). Instead, rain, cold, rain again: benvenuti Dokwerk! In case you were nostalgic of Amsterdam.
You know, I think it’s time to change my favourite story: “in Italy the weather is always sunny”, because since I moved to Amsterdam, every time I come back to my family the weather is always cloudy and rainy. (But let’s keep it secret, I need this excuse to complain sometimes 🤪).
So, rewind: alarm at 3 a.m., night flight, Italian transports, a questionable breakfast and then a three-hours bus trip with crying babies, but also with the nicest view from the window seat.
This is the best part of land transports, you can really enjoy the ride, find out small details, places that you had never acknowledged before. ⛰ 🌊
📸 Naomi Sullivan
We arrived in Fermo just in time for the opening night of the XXVII Stage Internazionale del Saxofono, the International Saxophone Festival for young players, where they can meet and study with the best-know figures of the international panorama. It is an unmissable event for me and being invited by Massimo Mazzoni and Lucy Derosier has been a great honour. After a journey of 13 hours, we incredibly made it at the opening concert, but the best was yet to come…
The following morning, in fact, I gave individual lessons to young saxophonists at my first masterclass as a teacher. How was for me to be on the other side? Well, music for me has always meant sharing. I have always found it more engaging to play with someone, for someone.
Then sharing, teaching, learning one from the other: is there something more gratifying?
(together with some of the students of the masterclass and very dear friends)
Probably I have found just one answer: knowing that someone believes in your work as much as you do and believes that it is worth investing on you. Air Music sponsored our concert in Fermo and we cannot be but grateful for that. Full of pride and gratefulness the Dokwerk Saxophone Quartet landed on stage for the second concert of the Festival.
At the Stage Internazionale del Saxofono we have performed the Italian première of Negarehaye Rangin, a rather new composition of Ramin Amin Tafreshi, a close friend of the Quartet and an excellent artist.
His Iranian folk sonorities deserved a thunderous applause: we felt so proud to play this piece for the first time in Italy! (the public loved it!!!!! 😍)
We like taking different worlds on stage with music. We are four different worlds, indeed, and this is what enriches our quartet.
With new bags under our eyes, new friends, and new stories to tell, in our way home we reached our first Instagram goal: 1k followers! Didn’t mind it was midnight: we started a Q&A session to celebrate and received lots of inspiring questions.
Do you follow us? @dokwerksaxophonequartet
As I wrote before, it is all about sharing. But these are just the first goals! 😂
To be honest, for now my agenda is telling me that I haven’t bought Christmas presents, but I know the menu of the Christmas Eve by heart. 🎄🎅🏻
What about the next concert? Christmas Karaoke with my cousins around the table, and for what concerns the saxophone, see you in the future. Or better said, see you in a happy new 2023!
🥳 🍾