Widely regarded as one of the UK’s most exciting and dynamic saxophone quartets, the Laefer Quartet have been at the cutting edge of saxophone chamber music for over a decade. Their dedication to new music has seen them commission an extensive body of new works from a group of composers who share the quartet’s passion for collaborative music-making. Alongside established works and transcriptions, these newly-written and commissioned works form the heart of the quartet’s eclectic repertoire. Through the performance of these works, the quartet seeks to celebrate the extraordinary versatility, virtuosity, and breadth which characterise the saxophone.
Comissioned composers include Howard Skempton, Charlotte Harding, Anna Appleby, Michael Cryne, Denise Ondishko, Giles Swayne, Clare Loveday, William Marsey, Erica Telisnor, and Alexander Glyde Bates. Six of these commissioned works form the core of their upcoming debut album Strata, to be released on the Coviello Contemporary Label in early 2024, which explores the theme of layers, and the different ways we as human beings interact, intertwine, and impose on the natural world around us. The quartet has also given the UK premieres of works by Ivan Fedele, Joel Love, Ed Scolding, and Andrew Chen.
Formed in 2012 at the Royal College of Music, the ensemble have been invited to perform at some of the UK’s most prestigious concert halls including Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, St John’s Smith Square, and St David’s Hall. The quartet have been the recipients of numerous awards including Park Lane Group Artists, the Elias Fawcett Ensemble Award for an Outstanding Ensemble in the Royal Over-Seas League Competition, and were Making Music Selected Artists.
Committed to the future of music education, the quartet’s practices extend beyond performance to encompass the delivery of educational workshops, chamber coaching and masterclasses. The quartet has been invited to give masterclasses at universities and conservatoires across the UK, including the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the University of Southampton, and for the Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain.
The word Laefer (pronounced lay-fer) is Anglo-Saxon for ‘reed’ or ‘rush’, and also ‘sheet metal’, encapsulating the essence of Adolphe Sax’s creation.
Click on the photographs below to find out about each member
Amy Green
Soprano Saxophone
Naomi Sullivan
Alto Saxophone
Samuel Mallia
Tenor Saxophone
Stephen Shepherd
Baritone Saxophone