Xavier Larsson Paez

"Xavier Larsson is a highly virtuoso saxophonist but above all a true musician and at the
same time modest and collegial. I would work with him again anytime!”
Ingo Metzmacher, conductor

Born in 1991 on the island of Menorca, Xavier Larsson started playing the violin and later switched to the saxophone. He finished his studies with Prof. Daniel Gauthier at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln where he received his Konzertexamen with distinction and additionally a master degree in New Music with Prof. David Smeyers.

Xavier Larsson has been awarded with first prizes at international music competitions,
including the Classic Winds International Festival 2016 Köln/Bonn in Germany, the SaxoVoce 2016 in France, the 10^th Intermusica Competition in Austria, the 8^th Michal Spisak Competition and 2^nd International Saxophone Music Competition Lodz in Poland, the Critic’s Prize of El Primer Palau 2010 and the Concurso Permanente Jóvenes Intérpretes of the Jeunesses Musicales 2009 in Spain. He is also a prizewinner of the 3^rd International Saxophone Competition Jean Marie Londeix in Thailand.

As a solist he has performed in concert halls such as the Wiener Musikverein, the Kölner Philharmonie, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Auditorio Nacional and Teatro Monumental de Madrid. He has also given masterclasses in Spain, Germany, France, Poland, Russia, Chile, Mexico, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. In addition to his solo career, he is active in several ensembles, such as the Fukio Saxophone Quartet and the Trio SpiegelBild.

Currently he teaches saxophone ensemble at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona where he also teaches saxophone at the Master's programme together with Prof. Albert Julià.

Photo credits: Anna Tena - Maria Jarzyna