GS3: Vestigial Structures

Montreal’s intrepid saxophone quartet Quasar has travelled the world and done it all—acoustic music, electroacoustic music, multimedia projects, improvisation, orchestral collaborations, and more! Offering a highly diversified repertoire extending from classical to jazz, the group explores the broadest range of possibilities on the saxophone. The quartet is a driving force in musical creation, regularly working closely with composers, encouraging research, experimentation, and the cultivation of unprecedented ideas. Over the course of its thirty-two years of activity, the multiple award-winning group has commissioned and premiered over 200 works by leading Canadian and international composers, recorded seven albums, and won 10 OPUS prizes awarded by the Conseil québécois de la musique, including for “Artist of the Year.”

Quasar’s upcoming Winnipeg concert on March 5 promises to be a cutting-edge experience featuring audio-visual and surround-sound works composed expressly for the quartet. These include recent works by Bekah Simms (Canada/Scotland), Örjan Sandred (Sweden/Canada), and Egidija Medekšaitė (Lithuania), as well as world premiere performances of new commissions by Gordon Fitzell (Canada) and GroundSwell’s 2025 National Emerging Composers Competition winner Takuto Fukuda (Japan/Canada).

Quasar is deeply committed to mentoring younger artists. Members of the group, alongside award-winning Canadian composer Vincent Ho, recently served as jurors for GroundSwell’s National Emerging Composers Competition. While in Winnipeg,

Quasar will also serve as resident ensemble for the world premiere performance of a newly commissioned work by competition winner Takuto Fukuda (Japan/Canada). This work will be performed on two occasions: On March 4 at a 12:30 PM midday concert at the University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music and on March 5 at 7:30 PM at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In addition, Quasar will offer insightful masterclasses at the University of Manitoba, including a reading session of new works written for expressly for them by current students of the Composition Program. 

We are also thrilled to present the culminating performance of an exciting collaboration with students of the local high school Collège Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau. Part of GroundSwell’s robust outreach activities, this project empowers high school students to explore creativity, composition, and performance under the guidance of band director Brady Gill and Winnipeg composer Kenley Kristofferson.