"This gentler sax will make you smile"
"Amy Dickson is a player with a difference, an artist who may well appeal to listeners who have virtually written off the saxophone as being part of the world of popular dance music and therefore not of great interest. She has a individual and unusual tone, luscious, silky-smooth, sultry and voluptuous by turns; her phrasing is beautifully finished, her control of dynamic infinitly subtle. She plays very songfully, is often gentle and restrained, at times sounding like the chalumeaux of a clarinet. But she can rise to a passionate climax, as in Danza de la moza donosa, or slinkily respond to Debussy's La plus que lente. She is very lucky to have an accompanist-partner with the musical affinity of Catherine Milledge who provides a perfectly balanced backcloth, one that the ear picks up as being pleasurable in its own right. How atmospherically she prepares the way for Dickson's beguiling entry at the beginning of the recital when she seduces the ear wih Chaplin's title number.
"One of the most fascinating duets here is Arvo Part's Spiegel im Spiegel, where the piano plays a series of gentle but pointed triplets, like falling rain, while the soloist ruminates, an unforgettable combination. This is a disc of unusual musical interest: the programme includes Rachmaninov, Fauré, Elgar and even Finzi whose Elegy is particularly effective when played with such sophisticated rapture." - Ivan March
Gramophone Magazine, 2008
'The brilliant young Australian saxophonist Amy Dickson was soloist in Richard Rodney Bennett's Seven Country Dances, her flowing phrasing drawing a striking range of tones and colours.
Amy Dickson's late-night concert demonstrated again how much this gifted player is at one with her instrument...After hearing her give the premiere of the saxophone version of his Songs of Sea and Sky, with its release into sweet lyricism, Peter Sculthorpe told me how the experience has inspired him to make it the basis of a complete concerto for her.
Much rougher and visceral was Mark-Anthony Turnage's Two Elegies Framing a Shout, Dickson and pianist Catherine Milledge heroically combining in this harrowing and taxing musical experience.'
Birmingham Post, 2007
“This was the most exciting saxophone recital I've heard in England for a very long time. All performed from memory with a degree of intensity, maturity and panache to satisfy any audience…”
“The Pequena Czarda by my amigo, Pedro Iturralde…I have sent him a copy of the programme, saying that this was the most passionate performance of it I've ever heard!”
Clarinet and Saxophone Magazine, 2003
‘Ms. Dickson negotiated leaps from one end of the instrument's range to the other with aplomb. But nothing could prepare me for the rapid finger work that followed. Never have I heard someone play so many notes per second on the saxophone. And this wasn't mindless jazz doodling. It was note perfect and thrilling. Mr. Sax couldn't have asked for a better champion.'
‘An arrangement for saxophone and piano of Rachmaninoff's Vocalise followed. I have heard this haunting work played on many instruments, but none has sounded more like the human voice than did the saxophone in this performance by Ms. Dickson.'
‘For many listeners, the mention of the saxophone conjures up memories of the vulgar blatty sounds often produced by pop and jazz musicians. But Ms. Dickson's sound is a revelation. This was lyrical playing at its best, with beautiful tone color and sensitive phrasing.'
Born in Sydney, Amy began saxophone lessons at the age of six with Melinda Atkins and later studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Mark Walton. Amy made her concerto debut at 16, and at 17 she became a recipient of the James Fairfax Australian Young Artist of the Year competition, which led to a recording of the Dubois Divertissement with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. One year later, she embarked upon an international career which has since led her to travel throughout the world as a soloist. At the Royal College of Music, London, she has studied with Kyle Horch and Martin Robertson, and at the Conservatoruim van Amsterdam with Arno Bornkamp. Whilst studying as an undergraduate she became the winner of many international competitions, and was the first saxophonist to win the Gold Medal at the Royal Overseas League Competition, the Prince’s Prize, and the Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year award.
Amy has now given recitals and performed concertos throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Africa. She has played in venues including the Wigmore Hall, the Bridgewater Hall, the Purcell Room, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and the Beurs van Berlage. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, the Auckland Philharmonia, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. Amy was invited to perform at the 2005 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta, and has also performed at St James’ Palace, the Scottish Parliament and for former Australian Prime Minister, John Howard. As leader of the Zephirus Saxophone Quartet, Amy has also toured throughout the United Kingdom and parts of Europe and has won first prize in the ensemble section of the Royal Overseas League Competition.
A strong advocate of new music and a fervent supporter of contemporary composers, Amy has worked with many composers throughout the world and has given the first performances of numerous compositions, including those by Philip Glass, Graeme Koehne, Graham Fitkin and Huw Watkins.
In 2007 Amy signed an exclusive recording contract with Sony Masterworks, and her first album Smile was released on the RCA Red Seal label in 2008, to great critical acclaim. Her second recording on that label is to be released in 2009. On it, Amy has recorded on soprano saxophone a transcription of the Violin Concerto by Philip Glass, The Protecting Veil by John Tavener, and Where the Bee Dances by Michael Nyman. It was recorded at London’s Cadogan Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Mikel Toms.
Highlights of her current performance season include engagements with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the premiere of a new concerto by Martin Butler which has been written for Amy to play at the opening night of the 2009 Presteigne Festival. She will also give chamber performances with pianist Martin Cousin at the Harare International Festival of the Arts, Holders Season Barbados, Concentus Moravaie Festival in the Czech Republic and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Looking forward to seeing you at City Showcase in June. Hope the new piece is going well!
(just a reminder that free tickets are available via our site!)
