Wild Truth
19 September 2026 7:30 PM |UVic Phillip T. Young Recital Hall
Quasar Saxophone Quartet
D. Andrew Stewart, Karlax
PROGRAM
Jordan Berg: Deadly Dreams (world premiere)
Rolf Boon: Contours for Saxophone Quartet (world premiere)
Scott Godin: LEFT TO CHANGE / RESTE À CHANGER: Three Meditations on the Work of Ryan Larkin (world premiere)
Amy Brandon: New work (world premiere)
D. Andrew Stewart: La vérité brute / The Wild truth for saxophone quartet and karlax (world premiere)
Admission by donation.
In cooperation with New Music Lab.
About the program
Wild Truth brings composers, performers, instruments, bodies, and technology into close creative contact.
New Music LAB and Quasar Saxophone Quartet present a program of premieres that explores new forms of musical collaboration. The saxophone quartet becomes a meeting place for contrasting compositional approaches, from dreamlike and meditative sound worlds to sharply defined gestures and changing sonic contours.
In D. Andrew Stewart’s Wild Truth, the Karlax digital instrument transforms physical movement into sound. The performer’s gestures become an integral part of the composition, creating a direct connection between body, technology, and musical expression.
Featuring five premieres, the concert offers audiences the opportunity to experience new work at the moment it enters the world. It reflects SALT 2026’s theme of proximity through close collaboration between composers and performers, and through the encounter between acoustic instruments and digital environments.
About the performers
Quasar is a Montréal-based saxophone quartet known for its energy, distinctive sound, and fearless approach to new music. Since its founding in 1994, the ensemble has explored a broad range of artistic forms, from acoustic repertoire and improvisation to electronics, music theatre, and multidisciplinary performance. Its artistic achievements have been recognized with 11 OPUS Awards from the Conseil québécois de la musique, including the prestigious Artist of the Year award.
Close collaboration with composers is central to Quasar’s work. The quartet has commissioned and premiered more than 200 new works, making a major contribution to contemporary saxophone repertoire and performance practice. Quasar presents its own concert series in Montréal and has performed widely across Canada, Europe, the United States, Mexico, and at major international festivals, including Ars Musica in Brussels, Busan Maru in South Korea, Tonlagen in Dresden, and the SALT Festival in Victoria.
D. Andrew Stewart is a composer and digital musical instrumentalist whose work brings acoustic and electroacoustic performance into close dialogue. At the centre of his practice is the exploration of new interfaces for musical expression: instruments and technologies that extend traditional performance while preserving the physical, expressive role of the musician. His work asks how compositional ideas, techniques, and performance practices can evolve alongside developments in digital instrument design.
Stewart has presented his research and artistic work at major international forums devoted to music technology, human-computer interaction, live coding, musical gesture, and new interfaces for musical expression. His music has been performed across Canada and internationally, including in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France, Mexico, Argentina, Norway, China, South Korea, and the United States.
Where It’s At
UVic Phillip T. Young Recital Hall
B125, MacLaurin Building, University of Victoria, Ring Rd, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2
Check also the other programs of SALT 2026