Christian Forshaw

Saxophonist Christian Forshaw ranks among Britain’s foremost composer-performers while also maintaining a reputation as an influential educator. Born and raised in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, he began on clarinet after being informed that the instrument belonged to the classical sphere whereas the saxophone belonged to jazz, and after absorbing the notion that a player must master the former before approaching the latter—an assumption he regards as entirely unfounded. At nineteen he relocated to London to enroll at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where three encounters proved decisive: collaboration with the unclassifiable American composer Moondog, who peddled scores on New York sidewalks while clad in Viking attire before relocating to Germany; exposure to the classical saxophonist John Harle; and work alongside progressive-rock composer and producer Brian Eno, who impressed upon him the necessity of forging a personal musical identity. Forshaw completed his studies at the Guildhall in 1995 and returned there in 2002 as professor of saxophone, a post he continues to hold.

He has appeared with major ensembles such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, and the Scottish Ensemble, the last of which has featured him repeatedly in Richard Rodney Bennett’s Concerto for alto saxophone and strings. Additional affiliations include the Michael Nyman Band, Endymion, and the Composers Ensemble, as well as ongoing membership in the chamber collective Notes Inégales. His debut recording, Sanctuary, issued on the Quartz label, blended medieval repertoire, contemporary pieces, and original compositions, drawing sufficient notice to elicit a four-album proposal from Sony/BMG. Forshaw declined the offer in order to establish his own Integra Records and retain full artistic autonomy, ultimately releasing four albums on the imprint. Throughout the 2010s and 2020s he has supplied original works to the vocal ensembles Voces8 and Tenebrae as well as to motion pictures, among them Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel. In 2022 he joined Tenebrae for the Signum Classics release When Sleep Comes.