Zurich Jazz Orchestra featuring Sarah Chaksad (cond., comp.)

Description

For over a decade, Swiss composer and alto and soprano saxophonist Sarah Chaksad has shaped the European jazz scene. Her trademark is her narrative, colorful musical language that combines compositional precision with great formal freedom. The international press recognizes her as an outstanding composer and arranger. Raised in a musical family, Chaksad discovered her passion for the saxophone and composing early on. She studied saxophone and music education at the Jazz Institute of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW. Important impulses came from international masterclasses and collaborations with musicians such as Guillermo Klein, Maria Schneider, Django Bates, and John Hollenbeck. In 2012, she founded the Sarah Chaksad Orchestra, with which she regularly performed on European stages for ten years and recorded the albums “Windmond” (2016) and “Tabriz” (2019, with Wolfgang Muthspiel). With the internationally staffed Sarah Chaksad Large Ensemble, she released the album “Together” in 2023, praised by critics for its richness of timbres and musical depth. Chaksad is committed to the further development of the jazz scene. She led the Jazzcampus Club Basel from 2015 to 2020, has been running the international support program Focusyear together with Wolfgang Muthspiel since 2016, and has been co-leading the Jazz Institute of the FHNW since 2025. She is also co-founder of the booking agency Esteam Music and the label Clap Your Hands. Participants and additional information: Sarah Chaksad Conducting, Composition Woodwinds Reto Anneler (as, lead) Lukas Heuss (as) Toni Bechtold (ts) Tobias Pfister (ts) Nils Fischer (bari) Trumpets Nicola Bernhard (tp, lead) Daniel Schenker (tp) Wolfgang Häuptli(tp) Bernhard Schoch (tp) Trombones Adrian Weber (tb, lead) Bernhard Bamert (tb) Maurus Twerenbold (tb) Jonas Inglin (btb) Horn Anja Huber (fh) Tuba Sophia Nidecker (tuba) Rhythm Theo Kapilidis (git) Gregor Müller (p) Vito Cadonau (b) Tobias Friedli (d)