The Royal Over-Seas League is an organisation that is committed to supporting the arts. As well as its annual music competition which has been held since 1953, it also runs an annual art exhibition and supports artists through numerous schemes which help to launch their careers.

I won the woodwind and brass award at the music competition in 1995. I was the first woman and only the third saxophonist (after John Harle in 1980 and Gerard McChrystal in 1988) to win the prize. The competition was a major event in my career; I gained a reputation as a soloist and chamber musician which opened many doors for me. Seven saxophonists in total have won the woodwind and brass award, Amy Dickson being the first to win the overall Gold medal in 2004. Many saxophonists have also been recognised with the woodwind prize, and also as ensemble players.

Gerard McChrystal suggested we organise a saxophone concert at Over-Seas House to celebrate all that the League has done to support saxophonists at the start of their career. I was very happy to be a part of this celebration. Gerard, Amy, Sarah Field, Huw Wiggin, Jonathan Radford and I all took turns to perform with pianist Catherine Milledge.

I performed Rattle Snake from Mark Zadro’s X Suite, a piece I recorded earlier this year in Athens. My second piece, also by Mark Zadro was a movement from his new work, Conspiracy Theories entitled What Really Happened at the Copacabana. It was a great chance to showcase Mark’s music and I was delighted to premiere a piece from this major new suite of his.

With each different performance came a different style, different approach, different sound. It was amazing to hear my saxophone colleagues and to reflect on how one instrument can produce such a rich variety of programming. We also all performed together as a saxophone ensemble; it was a real joy for me to perform Bach’s Double Concerto playing the solo soprano two part which I have played several times over my career. And a saxophone concert wouldn’t be a saxophone concert without me playing a little bit of baritone; I was happy to join David Zucchi on baritone to finish the evening with two joyous pieces.

Long may the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition continue, and I am excited to hear new sounds coming from the next generation of saxophone winners in the future.