Musical duo Alastair Penman, on the saxophone, and pianist Jonathan Pease, have been performing together professionally for seven years. Now, as they prepare for their Lunchtime Concert on May 30th, Alastair shares how their story actually began back at Cambridge University in 2007
How did you meet and begin to work together? “We met at St Catharine’s College, we played together in the university orchestra as well as in jazz ensembles and for musical theatre performances. After university we stayed in touch and worked on a number of projects together, then in 2018 we were invited to perform four recitals as guest artists on the board P&O ship Arcadia for a transatlantic cruise. Since then, we’ve performed countless recitals together on land as well as at sea!”
Do you also compose music together? Jon and I both work as composers, but often in different areas. I write primarily chamber music while Jon writes a lot of large-scale works including opera, musical theatre and choral works, as well as some fantastic chamber works. In 2023 we released our first album, Soar, drawing together some of our favourite works to play. As well as well-known works there are a number of more recent additions to the repertoire including Three Letter Word and And Everything is Still by Andy Scott, who was one of my teachers at the Royal Northern College of Music, and Lullaby by Paul Mitchell-Davidson. The title track, Soar, is one of my own compositions. We were delighted that after hearing our recording of Lullaby, Paul Michell-Davidson wrote a fantastic new work for us, Rage Against the Dying of the Light, which we have performed over a dozen times.
What works so well about your duo? I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to work with many different musicians in my career, and sometimes you just find someone you’re on the same page as musically. Jon is one such person for me, he is a hugely sensitive pianist, and it always feels as though we have the same sense of musical direction, which makes it a joy to play together. We are very much working together rather than against each other! It’s really Jon’s masterful piano playing that allows me to feel completely at ease playing with him and letting the saxophone sing.
Can you tell us about the music you will be playing at the Lunchtime Concert? The music we’re playing is drawn from our 2023 album Soar, and my 2024 album Quietude. The music from Soar shows off the virtuosic side of the saxophone, including favourites for the instrument such as Pequena Czarda and Carnival of Venice, while the music from Quietude demonstrates the softer and more reflective side of the instrument, with works including Debussy’s beautiful Beau Soir. We’ll also be performing two of my own compositions in the concert, Soar and Homeward.
How do you decide on your repertoire? We choose our programmes to reflect the full range of sounds and colours we can create as a duo, and this means there’s always something for everyone in our recitals, from the virtuosic to the meditative and from the sublime to the ridiculous!
You've been inspired by the natural world and climate change, how does this come across in your music? I’m often drawn towards compositions that reflect the natural world. For instance, Debussy’s Beau Soir, was originally a song set to a poem by Paul Bourget which paints the picture of, “a beautiful evening where the rivers are turned rose-coloured by the sunset and the wheat fields are moved by a warm breeze”. Many of my own compositions are also themed around nature, we will perform Soar which tells the story of an injured bird, at first frustrated by its inability to fly, but then, once recovered, enjoying playing in the currents of the wind.
I strongly believe climate change is one of the greatest issues facing humanity, in my new album, The Last Tree, released on 5th June, World Environment Day, each of the eight movements of the suite is based on a different quote about climate change and a tree will be planted for every copy sold. I’m also excited to be launching Sound Earth Collective alongside composer and saxophonist Jenni Watson, which will focus on using music to fight climate change.
Finally, tell us why you are looking forward to playing at Chelmsford Cathedral? “Since releasing Soar, Jon and I have had the pleasure of performing music from the album together in more than 30 recitals, most of which have been in churches and cathedrals. These spaces really lend themselves to duo performances because of their generous acoustics which help the sounds of the instruments to blend and carry. One of our favourite venues is Chichester Cathedral where we will be returning next year, which is a stunning space with amazing acoustics. We’re very much looking forward to performing at Chelmsford Cathedral and getting to know both the space and its acoustic personality.”
Alastair and Jonathan's Lunchtime Concert is on May 30th at 12pm, tea and coffee will be served at 11.30am. To find out more, their websites are alastairpenman.co.uk and jonathanpease.co.uk