Ebonit Saxophone Quartet

Ebonit Saxophone Quartet is a sparkling and inspired ensemble founded in 2011 at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Featuring four musicians from Poland, the Netherlands and Spain, Ebonit quickly became a recognized name in the Netherlands and abroad, performing in major halls including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, De Singel in Antwerp, Musikverein in Vienna, Konzerthaus in Berlin and Liszt Academy Solti Hall in Budapest.

Ebonit’s performances at international festivals include New Music North West Manchester, Emilia Romagna Festival Bologna, Verbier Festival Switzerland, Heidelberger Frühling, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Holland Festival, Wonderfeel Festival and Oranjewoud Festival in the Netherlands. Ebonit has been awarded first prize at international chamber music competitions at the Ottomani Competition, “Who’s Next” International Chamber Music Competition, the Storioni Competition and the Orlando Competition. At the Salieri-Zinetti Chamber Music Competition in Verona, Italy, Ebonit was awarded the second prize.

The International Chamber Music Campus in Weikersheim, Germany recognised Ebonit as most convincing newcomer ensemble 2016, and Verbier Festival 2017 awarded Ebonit the APCAV Prize. In 2016/2017 they toured the Netherlands as laureate of the competition “Dutch Classical Talent”. Ebonit regularly tours their children’s music theater program “Het pleintje van Meneer Sax” produced by Stichting Oorkaan.

Ebonit studied together in the class of Arno Bornkamp in the Amsterdam University of the Arts, and finished its studies in the Masters program of the Netherlands String Quartet Academy with Marc Danel, Stefan Metz and Sven Arne Tepl, and masterclasses with Eberhard Feltz, Gerhard Schulz, Heime Müller, Luc-Marie Aguera, Peter Cropper, Albrecht Mayer, members of the Artemis Quartet, Belcea Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Quatuor Ebène, Cuarteto Casals, Jerusalem Quartet and Pavel Haas Quartet. Their debut CD “The Last Words of Christ” with music by Haydn, Webern, Sibelius and Shostakovich on CHALLENGE Classics was nominated for the prominent Dutch prize “Edison Klassiek 2016”. In 2018 Ebonit’s second CD “Arabesque” was released on 7 Mountain Records and is described as “pure magic” in Dutch newspaper “de Volkskrant”.

Alberto Tárraga Alcañiz (b.1998, Xilxes, Spain). Coming from a family with a deep-seated musical tradition, Alberto started music lessons at the age of three, and began playing saxophone when he was six, at first taught by his father, and afterwards, studying at the music school of his hometown with Alberto Sáez Murillo. In 2016, Alberto was admitted in the class of Arno Bornkamp at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where he is completing the Bachelor program. As part of his saxophone education, he has also been taught by Lars Mlekusch, Claude Delangle and Nobuya Sugawa. His passion for chamber music has lead him to receive lessons from outstanding musicians, such as Güntler Pichler, Heime Müller, the Kuss Quartett, Quatuor Danel, Güntler Pichler, Luc Marie Aguera and Eberhard Feltz. Alberto has played in major concert halls in Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Spain Austria, France and Italy, and has provided masterclasses at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice and the University of Manchester UK.

Dineke Nauta (b.1992, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands) started playing saxophone at the age of nine and was a student in the “Young Talent” program at the Prins Claus Conservatory in Groningen. She continued studying with Arno Bornkamp at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. In 2015 she completed her Bachelor studies, followed by her Master’s degree in 2017. During her Master’s she took part in an exchange with the CRR de Versailles, France, receiving lessons from Vincent David. In 2010, Dineke received first prize in the regional final of the Dutch competition “Prinses Christina Concours” and second prize and public award in the national finals. A year later she won first prize in the competition of the Dutch Foundation for Young Music Talent. In 2016 her participation in the Andorra International Saxophone Competition was awarded with a sixth prize. Besides performing with Ebonit Saxophone Quartet, Dineke is a member of the Dutch Saxophone Octet with whom she performs regularly in major concert halls and festivals in the Netherlands. From 2017 until 2019 Dineke was granted financial support from Kralings Muziekfonds Stringendo which provided her masterclasses with Claude Delangle, Christian Wirth, Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Marcus Weiss, Jean-Marie Londeix, Timothy McAllister, Julien Petit and Otis Murphy.

Mateusz Pusiewicz (b.1994, Parczew, Poland) studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam in the class of Arno Bornkamp and graduated with his Masters degree in Music in September 2019. Mateusz is a very versatile musician, with specialisms as a soloist and an affinity for chamber music. Since 2013 Mateusz has participated in many chamber music projects, including the Milonga Saxophone Quartet, where he plays baritone saxophone, touring Spain and Portugal, reaching the finalists stage in the Grachtenfestival Concours. In 2016 he won the saxophone position in Jong Nederlands Ensemble, where, together with 9 young musicians, he explores different style of music from baroque to jazz. He joined the Ebonit Saxophone Quartet in 2018.

Paulina Marta Kulesza (b.1990, Ostrów-Mazowiecka, Poland) started her musical studies at the age of 14 in her home country. She won both Third Prize and later the Distinction Prize at National Saxophone Festival in Przeworsk, the Distinction Prize at the National Audition for Chamber Music Groups in Wrocław, and Third prize at the III International Competition for woodwind instruments in Wrocław. Paulina is a two-time recipient of the Otwarta Filharmonia Agrafki Muzycznej scholarship for young and talented musicians. In 2010 Paulina began her studies the Conservatory of Amsterdam in the class of Arno Bornkamp. Since then she was First Prize winner at the ClariSax Competition in Valenciennes, France, won the audition for Orchestra 1813 in Italy and receive a scholarship Młoda Polska from the Polish Minister of Culture. During her Bachelor studies, Paulina undertook an exchange study at the Conservatory of Versailles with Vincent David. In 2016 Paulina graduated with a Masters Degree of Saxophone summa cum laude. Subsequently, she pursued the chamber music program full-time at the Netherlands String Quartet Academy with Ebonit Saxophone Quartet. Paulina has performed with major Dutch orchestras including the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Radio Philharmonisch Orkest. She has participated in many masterclasses including the 2010 and 2012 International Saxophone Week and the Contemporary Music Masterclass with Jean-Marie Londeix and Christian Lauba. Paulina has also received lessons from Christian Wirth, Claude Delangle, Jean-Yves Formeau, Jan Schulte-Bunert, Willem van Merwijk, Radek Knopp and Paweł Gusnar. She is a visiting saxophone coach at the I.J. Paderewski Music School of Bialystok in Poland.