CLARINET & SAX WEEKEND (2025)

Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th April

Join us here at Dawkes in Maidenhead for a fun & inspiring weekend of Clarinet & Sax related events at our store!

Kicking off our Clarinet & Sax weekend is a Bass Clarinet Workshop from leading UK player and Selmer Paris / D’Addario performing artist Dr Jason Alder. This workshop is open to all Bass Clarinet players and/or those interested in taking up the Bass.

Dr. Jason Alder is a contemporary, improvising, and electronic musician. Originally hailing from the metro Detroit area, in 2006 he relocated to Amsterdam and has since based himself in Europe. An active clarinet, bass clarinet, and saxophonist, he keeps a busy international performance schedule as a soloist, improviser, chamber and session musician.

This workshop is restricted to x10 spaces - so there are limited spaces!

Bass Clarinet Workshop - Dr Jason Alder

Saturday 5th April (10.30am-12pm)

Info & Booking

Saxophone Workshop - Sarah Field

Saturday 5th April (1pm-2.30pm)

In this 90 minute session we'll be joined by top UK Saxophonist Sarah Field, courtesy of Leblanc Winds. Sarah is a multi-instrumentalist and this workshop draws on decades of professional experience. Sax players of all levels are welcome.

Sarah performs and records regularly across many genres as well as T.V and commercial work. Most recently with pop & rock Sarah has appeared touring with British songwriters Ben Howard, Becky Hill, Elbow, Seal and with Sting.

Classical contemporary appearances include interviews and performing on BBC Radio, ClassicFM with her chamber groups Marici Saxes (Sax Quartet) and Neoteric ensemble (Brass & Sax Sextet).

Info & Booking

Effective practice is the key to progress and enjoyment with your instrument. In this session leading Clarinettist and Educator Paul Harris will discuss various elements of how to approach practice to develop your skills.

Paul Harris studied at the Royal Academy of Music (where he won the August Manns Prize for outstanding performance in clarinet playing) and has gone on to establish a career which frequently takes him to all corners of the globe presenting workshops, giving masterclasses, adjudicating and performing.

He has been a judge for the BBC Young Musician of the Year and the Classic FM’s teacher of the year and he works regularly with NYWO and NCCO as their woodwind tutor.

Woodwind Practice Skills - Paul Harris

Saturday 5th April (4pm-5.30pm)

Info & Booking

We're delighted to be welcoming the superb Monkin’ Around Trio (feat. Dave O’Higgins - Tenor Sax) to the Dawkes Live stage.

“A stunning player in the neo-bop vein, with an apparently effortless flow of coherent ideas, beautiful time and a highly developed harmonic sense.”

( - JAZZ GUIDE)

Here are three leading UK jazz musicians getting together to pay homage to one of the greatest Jazz composers of the 20th century, Thelonious Monk. With a wealth of experience and artistry at their finger tips Dave O’Higgins, Luke Fowler and Billy Pod have set out to pay their respects to the works of Thelonious Monk and to use his compositions to express themselves and display their veracious talents.

Dawkes Live - Monkin’ Around Trio (Dave O’Higgins)

Saturday 5th April (8pm-10pm)

Info & Booking

Woodwind Workshop - Snake Davis

Sunday 6th April (11am-1pm)

Snake Davis is one of the most in-demand rock, soul, and jazz sax players in the world, widely known for his solos on tracks such as Lisa Stansfield’s “Change”, M-People’s “Search For A Hero” and “Moving On Up” and Take That “A Million Love Songs”. He has played and recorded with artists ranging from James Brown to Tina Turner to Paul McCartney, The Eurythmics to Amy Winehouse.

We’re delighted he’ll be joining us to deliver his ‘Mind, body, spirit & instrument’ workshop as part of our Clarinet & Sax weekend. Suitable for all Woodwind players, this is one not to miss!

As a session player to the stars Snake plays arenas and stadiums, but his greatest love is to play intimate venues as himself. Playing the saxophone family as well as flutes, whistles and the ancient Japanese wind instrument, the Shakuhachi, and vocals, it is his total passion and commitment to sound, to every single note, that draws people in.

Info & Booking

Join us for an inspiring and fun saxophone workshop with Yamaha artist Ellie Sax. Whether you’re picking up the sax for the very first time or just starting out, this special event is designed to help absolute beginners build confidence and technique while discovering the joy of playing.

Ellie, an alumna of the Royal Northern College of Music and an internationally renowned dance saxophonist, will share invaluable tips, personal stories from her journey, and plenty of entertaining anecdotes from her dynamic career.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn from a true professional and experience the magic of the saxophone firsthand.

This event is FREE and open to all ages!

Introduction to Sax - Ellie Sax

Sunday 6th April (3pm-5pm)

Info & Booking

FAQs

Yes! We have a large number of free parking spaces right outside the store.
The sessions vary from FREE to £10, most of the workshop sessions are £5. If you click through via the ‘Info & Booking’ links you will see all the details.
The main exception is the Dawkes Live gig (2 × 50 min sets) on Saturday evening feat. Dave O’Higgins where tickets start from £18 and a full bar service is provided.
We use an external ticketing solution called Ticket Tailor. You can either (a) click through via the ‘Info & Booking’ links above, OR (b) you can find all our upcoming events via this link: dawkes.co.uk/events
Unfortunately all events are ticketed separately due to our booking system.
There are a number of excellent local hotels at all budgets. If you follow this link it will show a few options for the evening of 5th April.
In terms of grabbing lunch or dinner we’d suggest either Pizza Express (10 min walk), Waitrose for a quick sandwich (10 min walk) or Seasonality, Queen Street (10 min walk) for something more upmarket.
We will be creating some content from the weekend but none of the events will be recorded/shared in full.

Get in touch.

If you have any questions about our weekend please do get in touch. We’ll be happy to answer any queries about the events, visiting Dawkes or general Clarinet & Sax related info!