At first glance,  Telemann and Daft Punk seem like odd bedfellows – especially in a solo saxophone program. In his new national tour, Nick Russoniello has an interesting way of connecting the dots.

The Sydney-based saxophonist-composer is gearing up to present Air Mass across NSW, Melbourne, Perth and Hobart. With his soprano, alto and baritone saxes all in tow, the tour features original music by Russoniello, with Debussy, Telemann and the French robot rockers to “build the bridges” between his works.

Nick Russoniello. Photo © Jacquie Manning

“I hope to do with a saxophone what Debussy did with the orchestra and the piano; he’s the master of timbre and a lot of my music searches for ways to manipulate the various timbres of the different saxophones, My undergraduate thesis was all about Telemann, so that’s music that I have sat with deeply for about 20 years.

“Also, in Telemann a great hook and a groove are never very far away, he was hugely popular in his day. So yes, you can find similarities [with] Daft Punk.”

The works by Telemann and Debussy were originally written for solo flute. They translate over...