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Born in Madrid in 1989, Sara Zazo began playing the saxophone at the age of 7 at the Conservatory of Badajoz (Spain), where she completed her studies at the CSM of Badajoz with honors and an end-of-year prize in the class of Vicente Contador (2010).
She then continued her training in contemporary music and chamber music at the Conservatoire Jacques Thibaud de Bordeaux (France), with Marie-Bernadette Charrier between 2010 and 2012.
Between 2013 and 2015, Sara obtained her Master in Performance-Concert at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne (Switzerland), under the guidance of Pierre-Stéphane Meugé, before completing in 2017 her Master in Instrumental Pedagogy at the same institution.
Awards and recognition
Winner of numerous national and international prizes, Sara was awarded:
➤ The Fritz Gerber Award (2018)
➤ The 2nd Prize Kiefer Hablitzel Stiftung (2016)
➤ Support from the Lyra Foundation, the Max Jost Foundation, and the Irène Dénéréaz Foundation.
Artistic collaborations and orchestras
A versatile artist, Sara Zazo regularly collaborates with prestigious orchestras such as:
➤ Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
➤ Orchestre de Chambre de Genève
➤ Lucerne Festival Academy and Lucerne Alumni Ensemble
➤ Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Academy
➤ Orquesta del Palau de les Arts
➤ Orquesta de Extremadura
➤ Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne
➤ Lemanic Modern Ensemble
➤ Ensemble Contrechamps
➤ Verbier Festival Orchestra
➤ City Orchestre Lumière
She has performed under the baton of world-renowned conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Matthias Pintscher, Sir Simon Rattle, Peter Eötvös, Alan Gilbert, Susanna Mälkki, Jonathan Nott, Neeme Järvi, Kazuki Yamada, Timothy Brock, and Christoph Eschenbach.
Interdisciplinary projects and creations
A member of the Swiss theater company 2b Company, Sara took part in the creation of the show “Giselle…” by François Gremaud, on a saxophone score written especially for her by Luca Antignani, alongside dancer-actress Samantha Van Wissen. The show was successfully performed in Switzerland, France, and Belgium.
She has appeared in prestigious venues such as:
➤ Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg)
➤ KKL Luzern
➤ Victoria Hall (Geneva)
➤ Fundación Juan March
➤ Roulette Intermedium (New York)
➤ LAC Lugano
➤ La Seine Musicale (Paris)
Commitment to contemporary music
Passionate about musical creation, Sara collaborates with major composers such as Simon Steen Andersen, Stefano Gervasoni, Georges Aperghis, Heinz Holliger, Olga Neuwirth, Stilianos Dimou, and Peter Eötvös. She furthered her training at the Darmstadt Ferienkurse (2016 and 2018), a global reference in contemporary music.
Teaching and transmission
Invited for international masterclasses, Sara has taught at:
➤ PESMD Bordeaux
➤ University of Minnesota School of Music
➤ Conservatorio Profesional de Zamora
➤ Conservatory of Badajoz
➤ Birmingham Conservatoire
➤ Melbourne Faculty of Music
Since 2016, she has been a saxophone professor at the Conservatoire de la Broye (Switzerland), and since September 2023, she also teaches at the Conservatoire Jacques Thibaud de Bordeaux in the CPES program (Preparatory Cycle for Higher Education).
She also collaborates with the PESMD Bordeaux alongside Marie-Bernadette Charrier.
Ensembles and current projects
Very active on the international scene, Sara is a member of several prestigious ensembles:
➤ Ensemble Rayuela
➤ Duo Zazo – Moreno (piano & saxophone)
➤ Le Sax Consort (Renaissance music)
She is co-founder of the Ensemble Altera Inde, the IBSUD Quartet, and the Trio ACUTE Sax, and takes part in the Sinfonietta CONTAINER, a platform dedicated to contemporary creation.
A Selmer Paris Artist since 2018, Sara Zazo embodies a new generation of saxophonists committed to musical creation and pedagogy.
