On 15 January, the quartet released its third full-length album Echoes on the world’s oldest and most renowned classical music label Deutsche Grammophon, which was established in 1898. The release was accompanied by a concert in the historic concert hall Meistersaal in Berlin, which was streamed on the platform Deutsche Grammophon Stage. 

According to its members, the aim of the recordings found on Echoes is to showcase the potential of the saxophone as a very versatile instrument. “It’s like a chameleon,” said the Slovenian co-founder Alen Lužar in a recent interview for Odzven. As a relatively modern musical instrument, the sax is able to breathe life into the music of our time as well as the music of the Renaissance and Baroque with exceptional credibility.

The album’s repertoire includes the works of John Dowland, Gabriel Fauré, Paul Hindemith, Pēteris Vasks and Philip Glass but the composers are not presented in chronological order. The presented sequence brings forth fresh style contrasts with the aim to guide the listener through the album as a whole.

“As cliché as it sounds, our path is our goal… In a way, we feel a commitment to take the instrument and, of course, our ensemble to the listeners [...] Somehow we believe in the power of music—very old, a little less old and of course new music.”
- Blaž Kemperle

The SIGNUM saxophone quartet, founded in 2006 and currently situated in Köln, comprises the Slovene founding members Blaž Kemperle and Alan Lužar, Hayrapet Arakelyan and Guerino Bellarosa. Their first full-length Debut was released in 2011 and the sophomore album Balkanication followed in 2014. In recent years, they have performed at many esteemed festivals and international competitions all across Europe as well as in the USA. One of the highlights was their 2013 debut at the legendary Carnegie Hall in New York. As the recipients of the Rising Stars Grand Prix 2014/2015 award, they were invited to perform at various illustrious classical music venues like the Barbican Centre in London, the Konzerhaus in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and others.

The digital album Echoes is out now on Deutsche Grammophon. Soon also available on CD!