Swiss saxophonist and composer established in Greensboro, NC, Laurent Estoppey devotes himself mostly to music and arts of today. Numerous collaborations with composers have led him to create at least two hundred works but also have opened him to the composition world. Now his musical activity is divided between written music and improvisation, and it occurs throughout Switzerland, many European countries, but also in Canada, USA, Russia, Argentina, Guatemala and South Africa. His discography includes more than twenty recordings featuring on Claves records (CH), Aussenraum Records (CH), Insubordinations (CH), Thödol (F), Out and Gone (USA) and NOVA (USA). In 2016, he was nominated for the Herb Alpert Music Awards.
He works with many orchestras in Europe, conducted by James Levine, Marek Janowski, Christian Zacharias Kazuki Yamada, Neeme Järvi, Diego Matheuz and Heinz Holliger among others. Besides having founded and developed numerous chamber music groups, Estoppey is a member and artistic director of Swiss ensemble baBel and COLLAPSS (Collective for Happy Sounds - Music, dance, poetry, visual arts in Greensboro). His improvisational collaborations involve meetings and concerts with musicians from all backgrounds such as Zkrabuj et chou et pâté (saxophone / percussion with Luc Müller), and Polyorchard (Durham, NC), Cyanotype (Durham, NC). Estoppey has also worked alongside many independent musicians such as Elliot Sharp, Anthony Coleman, Ikue mori, Eugene Chadbourne, Nick Didkovsky, Jacques Demierre, Pierre Favre, Pierre Audétat, Malcolm Braff, Urs Leimgruber and Fritz Hauser.
Estoppey is a professional composer for various settings and contexts, including concerts, performances, as well as sound installation and video art works. His pieces have been commissioned by conservatories as well as private and public foundations, in the USA, Canada, France, Switzerland. His pieces have been performed in festivals and conferences such as SCL, SEAMUS, NASA and the World Saxophone Congress. His work is divided between pushing the boundaries of the saxophone technique, often related to the live processed electronics, and pieces involving all sort of different instruments.
His interest in all contemporary arts has led him to collaborate with many artists in interdisciplinary projects, collaborating with Martin Creed (concerts in Switzerland and Park Avenue Armory NYC in 2016) and closely with Christian Marclay (USA, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Brazil).
As an educator, Estoppey used to teach saxophone from beginners to master students for around twenty years in many music schools in Switzerland. He is regularly invited to lead improvisation workshops for musicians of all levels and all instruments, as well as saxophone, improvisation and contemporary music masterclasses.
Estoppey is a reference artist for Italian saxophone maker Rampone-Cazzani and is a D'Addario Performing artist.
