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

For well over a decade, Swiss composer and alto and soprano saxophonist Sarah Chaksad has been shaping the European jazz scene. Her hallmark is a narrative, richly colored musical language that combines compositional precision with a great sense of formal freedom. The international press has recognized her as an outstanding composer and arranger.

Raised in a musical family, Chaksad discovered her passion for the saxophone and composition at an early age. She studied saxophone and music education at the Jazz Institute of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW). Important artistic influences came through 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 performed regularly on European stages for ten years and recorded the albums “Windmond” (2016) and “Tabriz” (2019, featuring Wolfgang Muthspiel). In 2023, she released the album “Together” with the internationally acclaimed Sarah Chaksad Large Ensemble, earning praise from critics for its rich palette of sound colors and musical depth.

Chaksad is deeply committed to the development of the jazz scene. From 2015 to 2020, she served as Artistic Director of the Jazzcampus Club Basel. Since 2016, she has co-directed the international development program Focusyear together with Wolfgang Muthspiel, and since 2025 she has been part of the co-leadership team of the Jazz Institute at FHNW. She is also co-founder of the booking agency Esteam Music and the record label Clap Your Hands.