Thursday, Nov. 9, Uconn students and staff were blessed with the presence of the infamous saxophonist Eugene Rousseau. Marcel Mule, a legendary saxophonist himself, refers to Rousseau as "a brilliant saxophonist and distinguished artist," and this view is echoed worldwide. Rousseau was given the opportunity to play the first saxophone solos in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, London and Amsterdam. Furthermore, Rousseau has performed with the Minnesota orchestra, the Pan-American Festival Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony, the BBC orchestra in London, and even the Bavarian Radio orchestra. He is featured on the very first compact disc saxophone album Saxophone Colors as well as various other collaborations, and has spread his knowledge of music in the factory as well, working for Yamaha as a chief consultant for saxophone research.
Now he can boast that he has performed at the University of Connecticut.
At von der Mehden Recital Hall Rousseau, along with UConn Wind Ensembles, performed a variety of tunes from Remembrance Day: Soliloquy for a Passing Century, to Arctic Dreams. Each of these tunes boasted powerful chords and suspended moments of silence, helping to build suspense for the extraordinary runs of notes that permeated the room courtesy of Rousseau. If you were to imagine your fingers moving as fast as a flautist's playing flight of the bumble bee, you still cannot compare to the wonders that Eugene Rousseau honored the UConn community with on Thursday.
Derek Joly, a saxophonist here at UConn, marveled over how it was such "a privilege to have him come to the university." He, as well as the rest of the audience, participated in not one, but two standing ovations in recognition of the talent that stood upon the stage.
The university's wind ensembles also deserve to be recognized because, as Pete Brehm stated, it is amazing that "Such a small ensemble can produce such a powerful sound". The accompaniment they provided was exquisite, and had much to do with the inspiration that brought the crowd to their feet.
Upon the conclusion of the show, Phil Waselik stated, "I have never heard any saxophone like that before" and he would be doing the performance justice in such a statement, for the performance by Eugene Rousseau, along with the University Wind Ensembles, was without compare.
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