Classique
Álvaro Collao León
Alvaro Collao León's musical journey transcends borders, captivating audiences worldwide with his artistry, and he continues to be a prominent figure in the contemporary music scene.
Álvaro Collao León is a versatile saxophonist, improviser, composer, and arranger based in Vienna. Known for his innovative compositional voice, Álvaro creates music for a variety of chamber groups, mixed ensembles, and orchestras, often incorporating saxophone and electronics to explore contemporary soundscapes. He is a saxophone and chamber music professor at the Joseph Haydn Institute for Chamber Music and New Music, as well as at the Leonard Bernstein Institute for Wind Instruments at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Additionally, he teaches classical saxophone and improvisation at the Friedrich Gulda Music School in Vienna.
Collao León pursued his studies in Chile, France, and Austria, under the mentorship of renowned figures such as Marie-Bernadette Charrier, Lars Mlekusch, Andrew Middleton, Julia Purgina, Wolfgang Liebhart, and Sara Abazari, among others. His educational journey has profoundly shaped his approach to composition, integrating a deep understanding of contemporary music, performance, and theory.
A respected interpreter and creator of contemporary music, Álvaro has collaborated not only as a performer but also as a composer with celebrated figures including Friedrich Cerha, Georg Friedrich Haas, Hannes Kerschbaumer, Peter Eötvös, Olga Neuwirth, Beat Furrer, François Sarhan, Gerhard E. Winkler, Simon Pironkoff, Katharina Klement, Georges Aperghis, Miguel Farías, Chaya Czernowin, Peter Erskine, Mauro Hertig, Alexander Stankovski, Jorge Sánchez-Chiong, Øyvind Torvund, Ragnhild Berstad, Jennifer Walshe, Andreas Eduardo Frank, Alberto Posadas, Leo Brouwer, Daniel Osorio, and Pierluigi Billone.
His performances and compositions have graced prestigious concert venues around the world, spanning the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Notable venues include the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Wiener Musikverein, the Mozarteum Großer Saal in Salzburg, Porgy & Bess in Vienna, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, the Gasteig Concert Hall in Munich, Katowice Academy of Music, the Bibliothèque Mériadeck in France, and Teatro del Lago and CorpArtes in Chile. Álvaro has also appeared at esteemed festivals such as Allegro Vivo Chamber Music Festival, Wien Modern, Salzburg Biennale, Wiener Festwochen, Klangspuren Schwaz, Vienna SaxFest, Cervantino Music Weeks in Guanajuato, Aspekte Festival Salzburg, Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik, UNAM International Festival in Mexico City, Ensems Festival, Bregenzer Festspiele, and Transart.
An active guest of prominent ensembles, Álvaro brings his performance expertise to groups such as the ÖENM (Austrian Ensemble for New Music), the Vienna Volksoper Orchestra, PHACE Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, the Tonkünstler Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Carinthian Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Saxophonic Orchestra, Avido Duo, Reider-Collao Duo, and FIVE SAX.
Photo credit: Lucie Bigo / Henri SELMER Paris
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