Joshua Hyde

Joshua Hyde is a saxophonist, improviser, and composer. As one of the leading saxophonists of his generation, he approaches music with unwavering fearlessness, interpreting a broad spectrum of genres, spanning from the renaissance era to the most extreme and experimental new music of today.

Internationally recognized for his performances in the realm of new notated music, Joshua Hyde is equally at ease as an improviser, creating and performing music with his electric trio, with his acoustic trio “triovitrio”, and engages in a duo project with his long-time collaborator, Ben Carey. Together with Canadian percussionist Noam Bierstone, he formed the hybrid meta-duo “scapegoat”. Their recording of Pierluigi Billone’s “2 Alberi“ on Kairos earned them the Italian Music Critics’ Prize in 2020. Hyde maintains a longstanding partnership with pianist Antoine Alerini. The pair performs music ranging from severely contemporary to, more recently, transcriptions and original 20^th-century repertoire for saxophone and piano. Since 2016, Joshua Hyde has been an integral member of the legendary Australian ensemble Elision, collaborating with illustrious composers such as Liza Lim, Richard Barrett, and Aaron Cassidy. Their recordings and performances have captivated audiences across Australia, Europe, North America, and Asia.

He is not only a founding member but also a saxophonist and, from 2011 to 2021, the co-artistic director of the Parisian new music ensemble “soundinitiative”. The group has created a unique identity questioning the role of the interpreter in new music, incorporating movement into their performance practice, rethinking the use of space in presentation of music, and premiering creative work by members of the ensemble. Since 2011, he has been a regular guest artist of Cologne-based new music ensemble Musikfabrik, and has contributed to recordings of works by Enno Poppe, Evan Johnson, Liza Lim, Dieter Mack and Peter Eötvös on the Wergo label.

Since 2020, he is professor of saxophone and chamber music at the Geneva University of Music. Previously, he held teaching positions at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts, and the Graz Performing Arts University.

A graduate of the Paris Conservatory in saxophone, chamber music and improvisation, his saxophone teachers include Claude Delangle, Vincent David, Marie-Bernadette Charrier, Barry Cockroft and Ian Godfrey. Joshua also holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in composition from the University of Sydney, Sydney Conservatorium.

Joshua Hyde is a Selmer Paris artist.