When MT interviewed Rob Burton in 2018, shortly after he'd made his appearance as the second saxophonist to ever reach the finals of BBC Young Musician, the then-18-year-old said, ‘If things continue in the direction they are going, I'd be more than happy. If I can continue to give recitals and perform concertos, and people keep enjoying it, that would be great.’ At this stage, Burton had gone from thinking he'd never have any solo opportunities in his career to receiving numerous bookings following the Grand Final broadcast. Now, four rollercoaster years later, he's calling me from his apartment in central Zürich, where he is studying for a masters degree at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). ‘It's really interesting to hear that [quote back], because now doing recitals is such a normal part of my life,’ he says. ‘But every recital I do, I try not to take it for granted because I know it's such an amazing opportunity.’
Burton – who achieved Grade 8 distinctions in clarinet, saxophone, piano and recorder while still a teenager – seems to have been managing a whirlwind schedule ever since the Grand Final (barring a pandemic-related interlude). Four years ago, he was studying saxophone at the Royal Academy of Music, with deadlines and end-of-year recitals days after taking to the stage with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) and Mark Wigglesworth.
Today, he appears on the Zoom call a few minutes late, apologising after having ‘semi-run’ home from a rehearsal. Burton's near-impossible schedule had become apparent during our email exchange prior to the interview, and now he explains that a combination of competitions, rehearsals, concerto premieres, the new university term, a thesis, a saxophone quartet tour, and catching Covid has meant that it's ‘all been a bit mad’. ‘But it's calming down now!’ he reassures me, as I start to feel guilty for requesting an interview in the first place.
Learning from the ‘oracle’ of contemporary sax
Despite the busyness, Burton is clearly in good spirits as he settles into his second year of study in Switzerland. ‘I've got lots of opportunities playing a lot of chamber music, doing ensemble playing, and playing contemporary music with a professor who is a genius in contemporary music – it's his speciality – so I'm premiering a lot of pieces and performing in Zürich and around Switzerland, which is really nice,’ he says. The professor, who is the main reason Burton applied to ZHdK, is Lars Mlekusch – professor of saxophone, chamber music and contemporary music at the university since 2015. While at RAM, Burton received funding to have lessons elsewhere with another teacher and, having met Mlekusch on a summer course a few years previously, in early 2020 Burton started going to Zürich once a month for lessons with the professor. ‘The lessons were mind-blowing,’ says Burton, ‘but then March 2020 happened, so I couldn't have any more lessons with him. When I was deciding what to do for my masters degree, I thought I'd love to be able to spend more time with this guy, who's kind of the oracle for anything contemporary for the saxophone. He's premiered all the pieces, worked with all the composers; he's just a mastermind.’
Now that he's there, Burton has discovered plenty of additional draws. ‘ZHdK is a very cool university – rather than being a normal conservatoire, it's a massive arts university. So, we do lots of interdisciplinary things like working with dancers, artists, photographers, videographers, and theatre makers. Studying contemporary music, this is the perfect place to be because you've got everything at your fingertips.’ Burton feels that the Swiss university is working him harder – perhaps partly on account of this being a masters rather than undergraduate degree – and describes the change as a ‘nice experience’. ‘I've been working a lot harder than I was in London, which is a bit of a shock, even after one year of being here, but it's really good,’ he says.
Space to reflect
Luckily for him, Burton says, he was still at RAM when the pandemic hit, so he wasn't trying to make a living as a musician. Although he felt less motivated due to a lack of live performances, he acknowledges that the forced pause had some benefits. ‘It gave me space to think about what I really want to do with music and what music means to me,’ he says. ‘As musicians, we never really get the chance to reflect on anything because we're in the practice room day in day out, rehearsing, going to lessons, going to concerts, and there's never any time to take a break and enjoy doing something else. I'm also a keen artist, so the pandemic gave me time to paint and focus on that side of me – it's been interesting how that has shifted how I think about music.’
I ask Burton whether he discovered what music means to him. ‘I think I mainly learnt what music I really enjoy – not the music that I'm force-fed at conservatoire and things I feel like I should enjoy. I had the space to listen to and play what I really wanted to,’ he says. ‘I was exploring new music by modern composers, listening to lots of jazz, and listening to music that makes me happy, which I never really had the chance to do before.’ Having studied English Literature at university, I relate to the feeling of eternal reading lists and no time to work out what you actually like to read.
Building up a repertoire
Although reluctant to think about the future in too much depth (and reluctant to discuss the potential challenges posed by Brexit), Burton already has plans for what he might do after graduating. ‘One thing I'm very keen to do is commission new works for the saxophone because that's something I'm very passionate about – working with new composers and building up a repertoire for the instrument that really resonates with me.’ He continues: ‘Obviously, the saxophone is very well written for at the moment – there are so many amazing composers who are writing for it, but I think that's less the case in England. There are many British composers I could collaborate and work with.’ Burton also wants to do plenty of recording, including an album, and perform around the UK and Europe.
Thinking about the current landscape for young musicians, Burton says that he feels that universities and conservatoires are increasingly providing players with the advice they need at the start of their careers. ‘I think everything is improving in terms of being able to break into a career.’ At the same time, he raises two areas for improvement, both of which he may well be able to address if his plans come to fruition. One is performing more works by minority composers, and the other is an existential concern about classical music itself. ‘I think audience is always going to be an issue with classical music,’ he says. ‘Lots of people say that classical music is dying, and I think we can always be thinking about how we keep it relevant – thinking about programming, venues, and how we present it. There are no real answers,’ Burton continues, ‘but it's about exploring different ideas, different ways we can play classical, and seeing where this can take us, while still staying true to the music.’
Reading Burton's 2018 interview and speaking to him today, it's clear that the saxophonist has stayed true to himself, too. Although the whirlwind of musical activity continues, Burton hasn't forgotten the catalyst – the vast difference between what he thought his career as a saxophonist would look like and the trajectory he's on now is evidence enough, he says. ‘I think it shows how much the BBC Young Musician competition really did change my life, what a good platform it is, and what competitions can do for people.’
