London-based Canadian saxophonist David Zucchi regularly performs classical, contemporary, experimental and improvised music across the UK, Europe and Canada both as a soloist and in collaboration with numerous European and Canadian groups. He also gives workshops and masterclasses in the UK and Canada, where he lectures on the performance and practice of contemporary music. Given his busy work and travel schedule, the timing of David’s choice to pursue a PhD in Music Performance at the University of Huddersfield’s acclaimed Centre for Research in New Music (CeReNeM) in 2020 was somewhat fortuitous, in that it meant that he could focus on his doctoral studies during a succession of Covid lockdowns and restrictions, a time that was especially punitive for the musical performing community.
David’s PhD examines the saxophone music of James Tenney (1935-2006), an American composer, pianist, and music theorist who taught at York University in Toronto for over 25 years and left an indelible mark on the music scene in Canada and the United States and on contemporary music. His research focuses on interpreting the experimental performance practices in Tenney’s music, which involves coming to terms with those practices and decoding the composer’s often cryptic instructions. David’s work will no doubt promote greater interest in the performance and study of Tenney’s music.
David has corresponded online with many of James Tenney’s collaborators and believes that the pandemic has opened the door to that possibility in that people of all generations are now more open to and comfortable with communicating online. David hopes to spend time at York University’s archives this academic year and also to visit some of Tenney’s collaborators at Cal Arts in Santa Clarita California, which was the last place that James Tenney worked.
A deep and abiding interest in the performance of contemporary and experimental music has been nourished by the exceptional roster of online guest lecturers and musicians which David has been privy to as a doctoral student at the CeReNeM. Numerous distinguished musicians such as Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, and Tom Johnson who would not otherwise have been able to visit the school because of their busy international performance schedules or age or infirmity, have given online seminars during the pandemic – truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.
David is excited about the opportunities that will arise once in-person collaboration is allowed to resume more freely but, in the meanwhile, he will take full advantage of the extraordinary opportunities available to him at the CeReNeM, especially the online seminars and guest lecture series.
David has an Artist Diploma and a Masters of Music in Performance from the Royal College of Music in London and a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Toronto.
David has been awarded CCSF’s Belle Shenkman Award for the Study of the Arts.
