www.saxband.co.uk

Welcome to the Home of the Manx Saxophone Ensemble

The Manx Saxophone Ensemble was established in June 2007.  Originally envisaged as a quartet, its profile changed rapidly and permanently when a dozen players turned up to the first meeting !

Since then, the ensemble has met on a weekly basis in term time for rehearsals, and has grown to around 15 players.  We've become established on the island as an informal performance-oriented band.  Our repertoire incorporates a wide variety of musical styles but accents livelier, upbeat  tunes.

The MSE, as we're more commonly known, is a community group.  It's a not-for-profit organisation, and we employ a relaxed membership policy.  If you can read music, and play any type of saxophone, then we'd love to hear from you.

Entry to the group is subject to a limit on group numbers and balance (numbers of Altos, Tenors etc.) , and we make use of informal auditions to ensure incoming players will be able to both contribute positively to the group and feel comfortable in group rehearsals.

Our primary aim as a group is to have fun and promote saxophone music, through playing to the public at various island venues.

With this in mind, our concert schedule generally comprises between 6 and 12 events each year, many of which are in the summer 'concert season'.

In addition, we like to build in a few social events, as it's not all about the music !

Whilst the ensemble doesn’t set out to teach the basic mechanics of how to play the saxophone, we do help our members to improve their playing and their confidence by addressing common performance techniques in rehearsals.  However, we would always advise you to take saxophone lessons in addition to any MSE involvement, particularly if you have limited experience of playing the sax.

Learning and developing as both individual and group musicians, is at the heart of the MSE philosophy. In rehearsals you'll find yourself taking part in exercises and informal challenges, and firming up on musical theory, as well as playing pieces from our extensive repertoire.

Developing your craft outside of the group's rehearsal schedule is entirely optional, but we've found that most players like to progress over time, and you'll find plenty of support for extra-curricular learning activities if you wish to take part.  These might include playing in small groups, joining other groups to promote more varied experience, taking exams and so on.  

To find out more, why not check out our playing guide (below), and if you’re already a saxophonist, you’ll naturally want to move on to the ‘Joining In’ page !

We look forward to seeing you in rehearsals !

If you’d like to know more about the how the group operates  feel free to download our guide - Playing with the MSE.

The playing guide explains how the MSE works, and how you can both benefit from, and contribute to, the group.

If you have any further questions, please fee free to contact our Music Director.