18 May/June 1995

Greg Banaszak

CareerManagement

Musical Versitility And Audience Assessment

In this column Dr. Eugene Rousseauwill be sharing his thoughts on

career possibilities for concert saxo-phonists. Dr. Rousseau has pioneeredthe study and advancement of allaspects of the saxophone and has set aprecedent of playing which has se-cured a place for him in the history ofthe saxophone. He was appointed asProfessor of Saxophone at the IndianaUniversity School of Music in 1964. Hehas been doing ongoing work for theYamaha Instrument Corporation asChief Consultant of Research andDevelopment, as well as designing hisown line of reeds and mouthpieces. Hefirst recorded many of the great workswritten for saxophone that have nowbecome standard repertoire over theyears.

VERSITILITYFirst of all, anyone beginning a

music career has to realize that there isnot a big market even for the mosttalented and well-schooled players.There is no guarantee of a job in theteaching area and certainly not in theplaying area of concert and classicalsaxophones. To have a large concertschedule, such as a violinist or pianist,is still a rarity, but it is much betterthan it used to be. My advice to any-one determined enough to go into itseriously is know your instrumentvery well, know your repertoire, knowthe techniques on your instrument(such as multiphonics), harmonizequarter tones that are in tune, andstrengthen your tone. Aside fromworking on all the different aspects ofplaying the saxophone, what else canyou offer? Today we can’t put all oureggs in one basket. Can you double on

Saxophonist Eugene Rousseau

any instrument? Can you teach otherareas needed to be a well-roundedmusician, such a music history, theory,or appreciation? Can you improvise orplay with an understanding of the jazzidiom? Can you play in the saxophonesection of a jazz ensemble? I ask thesequestions because I feel it all startswith versatility. Being versatile cer-tainly was a large part of my career.The person who is just a classicalsaxophonist is very rare indeed. Myfirst degree was a Bachelor of MusicEducation with clarinet as my maininstrument. My Master of Music wasin oboe. I received my PhD from theUniversity of Iowa. I taught marchingband, concert band, and woodwindtechniques classes, as well as servingin the military for two years. Whatreally opened my eyes was studyingwith Marcel Mule. I was fortunate

enough to receive a Fulbright at thetime. I’ve always liked teaching stu-dents at any age or level of playing.Teachers of young or beginning stu-dents should take great care in ex-plaining embouchure and making surethe student fully understands thevarious aspects of proper saxophoneembouchure. The fundamentals cannotbe stressed enough at any level.

Professional saxophonists aspiringto teach at the university level shouldbe schooled in the entire saxophonefamily, including some exposure tosoprano and bass at some point intheir career. Some saxophonists try tospecialize on only one member of thesaxophone family, be it alto or so-prano. As saxophonists we can’t affordto let any of the instruments within thesaxophone family go by the wayside. Idon’t require any of my saxophonestudents at Indiana University tomajor on only alto. I have studentswho feel their major instrument is thebaritone saxophone, but they still haveto play the other instruments as well.

In terms of repertoire, we can divideit very easily. We have what is nowaccepted as standard works, such asthe Villa-Lobos, the Creston, and theGlazounov along with a tremendousamount of new repertoire that hascome out that can’t be ignored. We’vejust gone through two weeks of read-ing new compositions at Indiana Uni-versity. Everyone is required to play anew piece and professionally record itas well. Recording these works alsoexposes the student to the studio.When you’re looking at this new reper-toire, there are many extended tech-niques required of the saxophonist.You should know multiphonics, quar-

19Saxophone Journal

ter tones with good intonation, andaltissimo.

PERFORMINGWe should first ask ourselves,

“Where do we find an audience for themusic we’re presenting?” You shouldtry to perform as much as possible, beit through a friend, a colleague, orother universities and concert series.You have to assess your audience aswell. If I’m going to play for the saxo-phone congress, I’m going to try toventure forth, maybe perform a newwork using sophisticated techniques.This same work might not necessarilyfly with your average audience. I’veperformed the Denisov Sonata for theaverage, concert-going audience andthey accept it very well if they knowwhat is coming! I might speak to themabout all the multiphonics, quartertones, and its jazz influence. Theyreally like that aspect of the perfor-mance. I feel we not only have to playreally well, but we also need to educatea little bit. All performers should beable to speak to their audiences with-out any apprehension. One shouldspeak slowly, sincerely, and loudly.Also, you shouldn’t be afraid to dem-onstrate what you’re trying to explain.I’ll have my students make some com-ments about the work they’re going topresent within our saxophone studiorecital. You cannot assume the audi-ence understands what you’re playingjust because you as a player know.Speaking allows the audience to bemore of a part of the performancebecause you’re bringing them in andyou’re sharing what you have to offerwith them. In turn, they appreciatemore of what you’re doing on stage. §