Quasar Saxophone Quartet is dedicated to the creation and promotion of contemporary music. The group’s ventures include instrumental music, improvisation, and electronics. Alone or accompanied by a symphony orchestra, acoustic or plugged, Quasar offers its audience a unique and deeply original programming. The ensemble has won 4 OPUS awards awarded by the Conseil québécois de la musique, including the “Artist of the Year” prize. Quasar presents a series of concerts in Montreal and performs regularly in Canada and abroad.
Since its founding in 1994, Quasar has premiered over 80 works, spanning multiple areas of musical creation. A driving force of creative music, the quartet works closely with composers favoring research, experimentation and the emergence of new ideas. Quasar thus contributes in an exceptional way to the development of Quebec’s music while also being credited several premieres of works by foreign composers.
Quasar has also given strong national and international exposure to new musical works. The quartet has performed throughout Canada, in the United States and in several European countries: France, Switzerland, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sweden, and United Kingdom. Quasar concerts are regularly broadcast by Radio-Canada, CBC and European radio stations.
The quartet has also attracted many collaborative projects with other ensembles such as Totem Contemporain, the Ensemble de la Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, Sixtrum, and Arte Quartet (Switzerland). Quasar was also featured as a soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
Quasar is a member of Le Vivier, a grouping of ensembles and organizations working in the new music industry, with a goal to establish a venue for creation, exchange and training in the heart of Montreal.