Liam Szymonik Quartet 

Liam Szymonik is a French saxophonist and composer who is active on the European music scene as both a bandleader and a sideman. Trained at the CNSMD in Paris in the departments of jazz, improvised music, and generative improvisation, he studied under Vincent Lê Quang, Pierre de Bethmann, François Théberge, Alexandros Markeas, and Stéphane Payen, among others.

He quickly made a name for himself as a member of the group New Fly, hailed by Jazz Magazine (Revelation), as well as through his participation in the ONJ Youth Orchestra, conducted by Claude Barthélémy and later Marc Ducret. At the same time, he developed several personal and collective projects, including the Liam Szymonik Trio (with Samuel Ber and Tom Boizot), the Focus Pocus quartet, the Rough! project, and the Liam Szymonik Octet, where he incorporates principles from spectral music into his compositions.

A long-time artistic partner of drummer Émile Rameau, he co-founded the duo Carton Rouge in 2021, a finalist in Jazz Migration #9, which garnered particular attention at the Nord Sonore festival sharing the stage with Han Bennink and Joris Roelofs. Their collaboration is part of an in-depth exploration of improvisational composition, at the intersection of avant-garde, jazz, and minimalist and contemporary music.

Deeply inspired by figures such as Henry Threadgill, Eric Dolphy, Anthony Braxton, Steve Lehman, Ornette Coleman, and Anna Webber, Liam Szymonik develops a unique musical language centered on rhythmic exploration and the work of tone and free improvisation. His instrumental explorations have led him to delve deeper into the alto saxophone (notably with the duo Tout Alto alongside Benjamin Dousteyssier), the sopranino saxophone as a solo instrument, as well as the use of electronics and feedback.

A regular guest at the Uzeste Musical festival, he has shared the stage with numerous artists such as Bernard Lubat, Michel Portal, Sophia Domancich, Jacques Di Donato, Antonin Tri Hoang, Pierre Borel, Thibault Cellier, Benjamin Duboc, Franck Vaillant, and Gautier Garrigue. He has also performed at the Sons d’Hiver festival in a tribute to Ornette Coleman featuring previously unpublished compositions provided by Joachim Kühn.