Fabrizio CASSOL

After his studies at the Music Conservatory of Liège (Belgium) from 1983-85. He was from 1984 to1992, one of the main saxophone players in Contemporary Music with a large number of creations of composers as Henri Pousseur, Jonathan Harvey, Frederic Rzewski, Philippe Boesmans, Steve Lacy, Vinko Globokar,…
During the same period, he developed his personal music: Trio Bravo (1984-1992). In 1992 he founds AKA MOON (composer and saxophonist) with Stéphane Galland and Michel Hatzigeorgiou after a journey in Central Africa with the Aka Pygmies.
To name few of the artists whom participated in various projects: Master Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman from India, Master Doudou N’Diaye Rose from Senegal, Oumou Sangare and Baba Sissoko from Mali, Contemporary Ensemble Ictus, Toots Thielemans, Philip Catherine, Marc Ducret, Nedylako Nedyalkov, Mustapha Said, Amir Elsaffar, Prasanna,…and jazz American musicians as Joe Lovano, Marc Turner, Robin Eubanks, David Gilmore…
He collaborated as the composer with the choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaker (Rosas) from 1998 to 2002. With the stage director Alain Platel they created from 2006 to 2018: VSPRS (Based on Monteverdi’s Vespers) – Uit a Bol with 400 singers from all cultures – PITIE! (Based on Matheus Passion of Bach) – COUP FATAL (fusion of Baroque Music and African music with only Congolese performers) – REQUIEM pour L (Based on Mozart Requiem) with 15 musicians from South Africa, Congo, Portugal, Tunisia, Belgium.
In 2014 and with the stage director Brett Bailey (South Africa), he adapted radically the Macbeth of Verdi for 10 South African singers and No Borders Orchestra from Berlin. Various others work with the Samoa-Maori artist Lemi Ponifacio for the reopening of the Haus Der Berliner Festspiele in Berlin (2010); with Faustin Linyekula choreographer from Congo (RDC).
In 2002, with DJ Grazzhoppa, they created the first Big Band of 14 DJs. In 2000, he participated with Aka Moon in the Philippe Boesmans/Luc Bondi opera, Winter Tale with the conductor Anthony Pappano.
He adapted Boesmans’ opera, Reigen, for 24 musicians and 10 singers and He participated in the new Boesmans/Pommerat’s Opera, Pinocchio, created in Aix en Provence Lyric festival (July 2017). With the instrument maker François Louis he took part in the invention of the Aulochrome, the first polyphonic wind instrument which can play two chromatic lines independently.
Artist in residence:
From 1998 to 2007 at the Opera house of Brussels, De Munt/ La Monnaie (director Bernard Foccroulle)
From 2007 to 2016, at the KVS (Flemish Royal Theater in Brussels) director Jan Goossens;
From 2011 to 2014 at Royaumont Foundation (Paris).
Since 2015 he’s supported by Camargo Foundation, American Foundation of Art in Cassis.

© Clément Vial