The Times
January 16th 2007
PLG Young Artists
Geoff Brown

Fiona Asbury’s saxophone skills and Paul Cassidy’s piano were put to best use in Turnage’s Two Elegies Framing a Shout. Hot sounds here, and razor-sharp timing.


Gary Carpenter
PLG Young Artists

"I found Fiona's performance insightful, dynamic and remarkably virtuosic. She played the more lyrical moments with tenderness and sensitivity and absolutely understood the architecture of the piece. It was a truly excellent performance."

Classical Source
January 11th 2007
PLG Young Artists New Year Series
Ben Hogwood

The final day of concerts in the Park Lane Group’s New Year Series once again brought a blend of artistic excellence and enthusiasm, with two imaginative programmes of variety and substance.

Whilst the second concert was a bit too long it was nonetheless helped by the commitment and obvious enjoyment of the four players involved. Saxophonist Fiona Asbury contributed three pieces with pianist Paul Cassidy, the most successful of which was Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Two Elegies Framing A Shout. Asbury’s agility was already impressive in the first elegy, while the second, lifted from music played at the funeral of the composer’s brother, was smoother in line and more expressive. The dramatic 'shout' ended atmospherically with Asbury playing into the lid of the piano, the resultant reverberations received by a rapt audience.

Gary Carpenter’s Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano is a carefully structured three movements, and both players impressed in the fast virtuoso unisons of the 'Danse Macabre' finale. Asbury’s breath control in the coda helped secure an affecting finish, whose softly oscillating music refers back towards the mood of the beginning.

Graham Fitkin’s Gate, if overplaying its ideas a little, is nonetheless a good example of this composer’s semi-minimalist approach, taking lively, rhythmic ideas for the saxophone over Cassidy’s energetic, pointed accompaniment.