GS3 : Vestigial Structures

Montreal’s intrepid saxophone quartet Quasar has travelled the world and done it all—acoustic music, electroacoustic music, multimedia projects, improvisation, orchestral collaborations, and more! Offering a highly diversified repertoire extending from classical to jazz, the group explores the broadest range of possibilities on the saxophone. The quartet is a driving force in musical creation, regularly working closely with composers, encouraging research, experimentation, and the cultivation of unprecedented ideas. Over the course of its thirty-two years of activity, the multiple award-winning group has commissioned and premiered over 200 works by leading Canadian and international composers, recorded seven albums, and won 10 OPUS prizes awarded by the Conseil québécois de la musique, including for “Artist of the Year.”

Quasar’s upcoming Winnipeg concert on March 5 promises to be a cutting-edge experience featuring audio-visual and surround-sound works composed expressly for the quartet. These include recent works by Bekah Simms (Canada/Scotland), Örjan Sandred (Sweden/Canada), and Egidija Medekšaitė (Lithuania), as well as world premiere performances of new commissions by Gordon Fitzell (Canada) and GroundSwell’s 2025 National Emerging Composers Competition winner Takuto Fukuda (Japan/Canada).