Nexas Quartet is the winner of the 2MBS Fine Music Artists in Residence (Classical) Award for 2025. It comprises saxophonists Michael Duke, Andrew Smith, Nathan Henshaw and Jay Burnes. During its year-long tenure the group will release its fourth studio album, George Gershwin – Music for Saxophone Quartets. The quartet has performed extensively, both nationally and internationally, taking the stage on its own as well as performing with other exceptional musicians. Expanding the boundaries of the saxophone repertoire and exploring different genres it will continue to promote the saxophone in chamber music during its residency at 2MBS.

The ensemble was founded in 2002 – how was the group was formed and what is your main focus?

The quartet was formed thanks to Mark Walton. The original four members (Andrew, Nathan and Jay alongside Ben Carey) came together while studying at the Sydney Conservatorium. We all knew each other, but it was Mark who said, ‘you boys are going to be a quartet now’. He gave us some music to learn and off we went. Our early years at uni were quite valuable for us as we ended up doing some 200 performances over three to four years thanks to Mark and David Miller, who ran the chamber music program at the Con while we were studying. This performance experience really moulded us as a group and led us to continue the quartet beyond university. In 2011 Ben left the group to pursue other musical interests and we asked Michael Duke, who had recently returned to Australia to take up the full time Classical Saxophone teaching position at the Sydney Conservatorium, to join us. As an ensemble our aim is to promote the saxophone quartet and its rich repertoire. It’s such a versatile chamber music medium, with a rich sonic tapestry. We love showcasing this in concerts by programming works ranging from standard repertoire to modern music and arrangements of iconic classical works. Nexas also strives to add to the repertoire by approaching composers to write for the ensemble.

What has influenced you and what are the challenges in creating and performing your music?

As a group we value the work done by other saxophone quartets such as Aurelia, Habanera and the Marcel Mule Quartet. But we are also influenced by many non-saxophone artists – as evidenced by our Piazzolla, Weill and Gershwin albums. In essence, we are influenced by all manner of things. This is why we also ‘borrow’ many classic works such as Ravel’s String Quartet or Debussy’s Clair de Lune and adapt them. One of the biggest challenges we face is that we are often told that the ‘saxophone is just a jazz instrument’ and are immediately pigeonholed as a jazz group before people even hear us play. We revel in the reactions of these audience members once they hear us and comment that they ‘never thought a saxophone could sound like that, let alone four of them’. While it is true that the saxophone is heavily associated with jazz music, it originally started as a classical instrument, the earliest example being its inclusion in Hector Berlioz’s Chant Sacré (1842).

You often play new compositions. Can you tell us about some of the works you have performed?

We have enjoyed working on and performing works by Australian composers. Our first album (Current) features exclusively new Australian music, including the work of composers such as Elena Kats-Chernin, Daniel Rojas, Matthew Orlovich, Matthew Hindson and Lachlan Skipworth. We were fortunate to perform Kats-Chernin’s Next Chapters, a concerto for saxophone quartet and orchestra, with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra. We are currently in the process of recording some new Australian works, most notably Carl Vine’s Sawtooth, which was written especially for us, and Lyle Chan’s In Media Res.

Nexas has played in a many interesting venues and locations. What are some of the more unusual places in which you have played?

We get to perform in some amazing venues such as the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Recital Centre. One of the more unusual venues was in Townsville where we performed on a beach on Orpheus Island during the Australian Chamber Music Festival. Beautiful views, but very surreal. Uluru is another amazing location we got to perform at.

You will be releasing your fourth studio album, George Gershwin – Music for Saxophone Quartets – in 2025. What can we expect to hear?

We look forward to sharing this new album. It features many iconic works by Gershwin, such as An American in Paris, Summertime and a rather underrated work, Lullaby, all of which we have especially adapted for the quartet. The album also features some of our dear long-time musical collaborators such as Peter Coleman-Wright, Cheryl Barker and Daniel Rojas in a medley of Gershwin numbers and pianist extraordinaire Gerard Willems as soloist on our arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue.

Can you tell us about other future plans for Nexas Quartet?

We’ve been together for over 20 years now yet we have so much more music to explore and perform. We will continue to champion the saxophone quartet and seek to expand the repertoire by commissioning new works and re-imagining the classic repertoire.

Nexas Quartet interviewed by Catherine Peake