The formations

The formations and their link

The association AMCEL Agora-Diffusion is a group of several musical formations.

Currently, 6 bands belongs to the label Agora-Diffusion:

Aulodia, the reeds quartet

A Piacere, the saxophones quartet

Ensemble de saxophones de Provence, the Provence Saxophones Band, a self-explanatory name

Sax Sax Plus, dedicated to saxophone, in solo, duet...

Présences contemporaines, the flexible band for contemporary musics

Zarbouk Human System (2007 news!), at the border between different musics

Jean-Pierre Caens is the link between all these formations.

At the origin of Agora-Diffusion, he is having since 1975 a double career of interpreter (with specialisation in contemporary creations) and pedagogue (teacher of musical theory in university and saxophone teacher in music academies).

New!!! Season 2007/2008

The collective Zarbouk Human System, located between intellectual music, actual musics, and the contemporary jazz has now joined the association AMCEL Agora-Diffusion.
The composer François Jeanneau is now represented within Sax Sax Plus, his work being part of the repertoire of the formation.
Work in progress: A CD Jean-Pierre Caens/Claudio Gabriele

The saxophone within these formations

Saxophone is nowadays in its golden age, thanks to the cultural mix and the importance of musical innovation. Even the well-known composers of the so called "intellectual" music realised this, such as Claude Debussy, Florent Schmitt, Maurice Ravel, André Caplet, Hector Villa-Lobos, Bela Bartok, Darius Milhaud or Igor Stravinsky. The actual great creators are then following this lead, like Luciano Berio, Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, Edison Denisov, Giacento Scelsi, Franco Donatoni, Charlie Mingus, John Coltrane, or Martial Solal.

All these names and even more are part of the diverse programs undertook by the AMCEL Agora-Diffusion’s bands (saxophone recital in solo, duet -Sax Sax Plus- or with orchestra, saxophone quartet "A Piacere", the "Ensemble de Saxophones de Provence" -Provence Saxophones Band-, reeds quartet "Aulodia", the band "Présences contemporaines", without forgetting the brand new "Zarbouk Human System").

The commitment of the association and its members

All this new repertoire available for saxophone does not guarantee for the interpreter to always make the good choice, without judgment.

We are committed to find out the main useful pieces, following our motto based on critical spirit, to defend the music we are believing in, without neither concessions nor exclusions.

No musical integrism, no instrumental integrism. From the moment the transcription and the instrumentalisation are an asset to the original musical piece, you will find in our program Jean-Sébastien Bach, Robert Schumann, Anton Dvorak, Georges Gershwin, but also some jazz standards, tangos, ragtimes, world and ethnic music, some soundtracks…