Amy Dickson (born 1982) is the only female and youngest musician included on BBC Music Magazine's best classical saxophonists, in the company of such greats as Marcel Mule (1901-2001), Sigurd Raschèr (1907-2001), Eugene Rousseau (born 1932), John Harle (born 1956) and Arno Bornkamp (born 1959).

Having received permission for the transcription from Philip Glass, the Violin Concerto No. 1 has become a signature piece for Amy, showcasing both her boundary-pushing technique and her deep musicality. Her recording of the work has won several awards and has created many opportunities to collaborate with a diverse group of artists. Indeed, the piece has also been choreographed for ballet by Adam Houghland (titled Cold Virtues) and in 2016 Amy performed the Glass concerto arrangement live with the Louisville Orchestra and Louisville Ballet to great acclaim.

Amy's “Take a Breath” program teaches children relaxed breathing techniques to help them learn to lower stress and anxiety and to increase wellbeing. The goal is that the children will be able to utilize the breathing tools (called Elephant Breaths) to reduce anxiety as they face increasingly stressful situations as they grow up. In addition, during the program Amy is able to introduce classical music to the children, who naturally delight in both aspects of the program.

Amy's diverse repertoire ranges from the works of composers such as Glazunov, Debussy, Schulhoff, and Villa Lobos to contemporary pieces by Williams, Turnage, Tavener, and Adams - to name just a few. She has premiered many new pieces in recent years including a concerto by Sir James MacMillan with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in 2018 and a concerto by Matthew Hindson with the Tasmania Symphony Orchestra in 2019. She has a passion for new music and is deeply committed to the development of new repertoire for the saxophone. In 2020, during the various periods of lockdown around the world, some of Amy's composer friends wrote solo pieces for her to perform online, from home. The Solo Sessions project blossomed and many new pieces were added to the solo saxophone repertoire. During the year, Amy filmed her performances of these new works, and the composers shared their thoughts about the music and how they related to the Covid crisis, in video interviews. The Solo Sessions can be found on Amy's YouTube channel.

Amy began her musical studies at the age of two and took her first saxophone lesson in Sydney aged six. She made her concerto debut at 16 and made her first recording as soloist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra on her 18th birthday. That year she moved to London to study at the Royal College of Music, before continuing her studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. In April 2022, Amy was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music by The Prince of Wales.

As well as receiving the James Fairfax Australian Young Artist of the Year award, she was the first ever saxophonist to win the Gold Medal at the Royal Overseas League Competition, the Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Award and The Prince’s Prize.

As an internationally regarded soloist Amy performs throughout the world with many of the great orchestras notably at the Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House and Konzerthaus, Vienna. As a highly sought-after chamber musician she has performed in prestigious series at the Berliner Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, and Enescu Festival. She regularly appears at international chamber music festivals and has worked with the Chilingirian, Goldner and Mandelring string quartets. Her duo partners include Kathy Stott, Piers Lane, Catherine Milledge, Martin Cousin, Huw Watkins and Danny Driver. As a proud Ambassador of Australian culture she has performed for Heads of State in Scottish Parliament, Australian Parliament, Australian Embassies, High Commissions and Government Houses, at St James’ Palace in London and at diplomatic meetings including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings in Malta (2005) and in Perth (2011).

Amy is a keen interpreter of contemporary music and is devoted to the development of new repertoire for the classical saxophone. Working closely with many living composers, she has already made a substantial contribution to the legacy of the instrument’s concerto, chamber and solo repertoire.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Amy approached composers across the world and asked them to write a new piece of music for solo saxophone reflecting their thoughts in that unusual moment in history. She published her performances of 27 newly written works on her YouTube channel alongside interviews with every composer experiencing lockdown from their own homes. This series of short films became known as Solo Sessions. Amy now performs these solo works in recital.

Amy’s raison d’etre is her own Take a Breath programme. Amy teaches children invaluable relaxed breathing techniques which help them build a resilience to stress and anxiety. After an exploration of the importance of breathing and of the respiratory system, she uses music and music writing to invite the children to think about emotional awareness and how it relates to their own breathing.

As a Sony Classical recording artist Amy Dickson has released six albums on the label which showcase a diverse repertoire highlighting the versatility of her musicianship and the varied capabilities of the saxophone.

Her first album, Smile, was released in 2008. Gramophone remarked that she "played with such sophisticated rapture . . . Amy Dickson is a player with a difference – an artist who may well appeal to listeners who have virtually written off the saxophone as being part of the world of popular dance music and therefore not of great interest . . . She plays very songfully, is often gentle and restrained, at times sounding like the chalumeaux of a clarinet. But she can rise to a passionate climax, as in Danza de la moza donosa, or slinkily respond to Debussy’s La plus que lente. She is very lucky to have an accompanist-partner with the musical affinity of Catherine Milledge who provides a perfectly balanced backcloth, one that the ear picks up as being pleasurable in its own right. How atmospherically she prepares the way for Dickson’s beguiling entry at the beginning of the recital when she seduces the ear with Chaplin’s title number. One of the most fascinating duets here is Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel, where the piano plays a series of gentle but pointed triplets, like falling rain, while the soloist ruminates, an unforgettable combination. This is a disc of unusual musical interest: the programme includes Rachmaninov, Fauré, Elgar and even Finzi whose Elegy is particularly effective when played with such sophisticated rapture."

It was her second recording that attracted international acclaim. Glass, Tavener, Nyman was recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at London’s Cadogan Hall and includes her own transcriptions of Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto No. 1, and John Tavener’s The Protecting Veil, as well as Michael Nyman’s Where the Bee Dances. The recording was selected as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine, March 2010. Of the recording, BBC Music Magazine noted: "In some ways, Amy Dickson’s arrangement for soprano saxophone actually works better than the original...The fast passages sound crisper; the bubbling arpeggios and long slow notes have new varied textures thanks to the saxophone’s reedy depth; the insistent solo interjections in the finale now pierce the orchestra; and the occasional violin-specific techniques, such as multiple stopping, are translated with no musical loss." Gramophone wrote: "Tavener’s work provides the centrepiece, however. Dickson’s sustained saxophone soars high above the orchestra for extended periods - maintained by impressively controlled circular breathing - illuminating the carpet of string sound lying below... Dickson’s impressive playing bears witness to the instrument’s hidden depth, breadth and versatility. Highly recommended."

This recording was followed by the Brit-award-winning and GRAMMY-nominated Dusk and Dawn, of which The Telegraph wrote: "She has the technical finesse to play just about anything." In 2013 the AIR award-winning Catch Me If You Can was released, and featured the saxophone concerti of John Williams, Michael Kamen and material from Mark Knopfler’s score to the film Local Hero, arranged by Jessica Wells, and recorded with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In a 5-star review by The Australian, it was written: "drawn from Williams's score for the film Catch Me If You Can, Escapades is a finely crafted concert work of retro cool jazz style that welds the saxophone closely to the orchestra. Dickson plays its snaky solos and infectious Joy Ride finale with exuberant authority. More cinematic in sweep, Kamen's Concerto is a bold, rugged and melodically inspired work that Dickson interprets with uplifting strength and impressive improvisatory flourish. With Knopfler's Local Hero concerto, she branches out into rock-style playing with conspicuous success." This was followed by the 2014 film-inspired album A Summer Place, on which Chris Walden’s arrangement of Moon River was nominated for a GRAMMY award.

Amy Dickson's next recording with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Island Songs, was released in January 2016 following the death of Peter Sculthorpe. It showcases her passion for commissioning new repertoire and met with international critical acclaim. An all-Australian disc of new music, it comprises Peter Sculthorpe’s concerto of the same title, which was written for Amy; Ross Edwards’ concerto Full Moon Dances, which was also written for Amy and recorded live at the Sydney Opera House; and Brett

Dean's Siduri Dances, which was arranged in collaboration with Amy. Limelight have written, "Dickson’s dazzling artistry is on display throughout...Island Songs is one of Peter Sculthorpe’s last compositions, drawing on a mix of wartime popular song and Aboriginal chant. The first half, Song of Home, features brooding strings, shimmers of recession and a sea of oscillating violin melodies, over which Dickson’s pure saxophone soars with a plaintive elegance. The second part, Lament and Yearning, blends Sculthorpe’s love of ancient lands with his sadness for modern climatic dangers. After the long, smooth gliding of Island Songs, Dickson harnesses an entirely different energy for Brett Dean’s Siduri Dances, managing the brutally jagged and dissonant melodic language with a vibrant ferocity. The Sydney Symphony’s strings conjure an effectively disturbing sonic environment led by Benjamin Northey (who also conducts the Sculthorpe). The multi-movement Full Moon Dances is a concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra exploring Ross Edwards’ ‘Maninya’ style with echoes of ritual music from both Western and South-East Asian cultures. Dickson’s dazzling artistry is on display throughout, in particular in the second movement which jets forward with some unashamedly raucous and ‘ecstatic’ orchestral jiving. Here the SSO plays under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya."

In 2017, Amy celebrated Philip Glass’ 80th birthday by re-releasing his Violin Concerto that she had transcribed seven years prior, alongside new recordings of Glass’ Violin Sonata and pieces from his soundtrack to The Hours. Again, Glass gave Amy permission to transcribe and record all of these works herself to much critical acclaim. BBC Music Magazine wrote “...Like other Glassian arrangers such as harpists Lavinia Meijer and Floraleda Sacchi, Dickson has had to develop bespoke techniques to make the transcriptions successful. Whilst the repetitive patterns in Glass’ writing are challenging for violinists, they are virtually impossible for woodwind – unless you can aster circular breathing, as Dickson has. The saxophonist’s stamina is impressive. Her Concerto is a kaleidoscope of colour; the phrases blend together with mechanical precision. Dickson captures the explosive emotion, particularly in the second movement. Her collaborators, the musicians of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, are on fine form. It is, quite literally, a breath-taking performance.”

Amy’s album, In Circles, was an ambitious and eclectic exploration of musical culture and folk song, working with the digeridoo player William Barton, the pianist Daniel de Borah, the Scottish composer Sir James Macmillan and the Aurora Orchestra. It caught a lot of attention and attracted a new fan base to Amy’s work.

“Amy Dickson is the kind of saxophonist who can turn a sceptic like me into a believer – her transcendental performances of transcriptions and compositions for her instrument are virtuosic. And, as the winner of numerous international awards, she has more than earned her place as a classical musician of the highest renown. Dickson’s latest recording, In Circles, features repertoire old and new, some composed for saxophone, and some arranged for it. One such arrangement is the traditional ‘She moved through the fair’, in haunting duet with William Barton’s didgeridoo. I recently saw Barton perform, and he too was somewhat of a revelation. His playing is brilliant, and his voice is powerful and otherworldly. What a good match, then, for Dickson’s own inimitable sound. James MacMillan’s saxophone concerto provides total contrast, both in scope and texture. It is a rare treat to hear the instrument featured in a concerto setting, especially considering the genre predates the saxophone, and far less solo classical repertoire exists for it than for other instruments. Folk music is the underlying theme of this seemingly disparate program, and Dickson’s interpretation of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Six Studies in English Folk-Song exemplifies her instrument’s chameleon-like ability to straddle several genres. Although appealingly nostalgic, the music is still very much in the classical mould, and the saxophone’s contemporary timbre is a surprisingly good fit for the recognisable folk melodies.”

Released during the COVID-19 pandemic were a series of digital singles including a new piece by Alexis Ffrench called Truth and then there were Teardrops, a traditional Aboriginal Lullaby, The Seal Lullaby by Eric Whitacre and a series of popular Einaudi works.

Additional recordings include Cecilia McDowall’s concerto Dancing Fish, Larsson’s Konzert,

Loeffler’s Divertissement Espagnole and Dubois’ Divertissement. In 2010, with Carl Davis, Melvyn Tan and the Philharmonia Orchestra, Amy recorded Davis’ suite from the film score for Hotel du Lac, which he had especially arranged for saxophone, piano and orchestra. In 2011 she joined the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and George Vass to make world premiere recordings of Holbrooke’s saxophone concerto, and Seven Country Dances by Richard Rodney Bennett. International Record Review wrote: "Amy Dickson, a player of distinction and strong musical intelligence", and BBC Music Magazine wrote: "Amy Dickson's creamy-smooth tonal palette is impressive particularly in the short, mellifluous cadenza...Richard Rodney Bennett's arrangement for saxophone of his Seven Country Dances for a warmly entertaining coupling.” Amy thrives on the diverse repertoire possibilities the saxophone can straddle and continually seeks to explore new genres. Whilst proving to be a brilliant interpreter of contemporary music, she is equally devoted as a champion of established saxophone repertoire, regularly performing the concerti of Glazunov, Debussy, Villa Lobos, Ibert, Larsson, Dubois and Milhaud, as well as those of Turnage, Higdon, Birtwistle, Williams, Glass, Sculthorpe, Torke and Kancheli.

Amy Dickson is a regular guest of BBC Breakfast and BBC Worldwide and has also performed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, the Alan Titchmarsh Show and the 7:30 report in Australia. She is proud to be an Ambassador of the Australian Children’s Music Foundation and the Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts. Amy is also a dedicated supporter of The Prince’s Trust.

June 2022 – Please do not edit without permission.