The Sarahbanda

• The Sarahbanda 

The idea for the Sarahbanda came out of my Mozart y Mambo project with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra, a three-album fusion of the music of W.A. Mozart with Cuban rhythms. With the Mozart y Mambo albums, as well as recording all of Mozart’s horn concertos (with a Cuban twist!), we also included a few pieces which experimented with the French horn joining the traditional Cuban band mix of saxophone and rhythm section. Being part of a Cuban dance band with my French horn was something I found I absolutely adored. I’ve been a passionate salsa dancer for years and love the atmosphere of the dance clubs. My Mozart y Mambo experience made me want to play more Cuban music and take the horn/salsa band combo to the next level – despite the horn traditionally having no place in any such band, not just in Cuba. So I asked some of Cuba’s most talented popular musicians to join me in a new band and thus, the Sarahbanda was born. (Sarah Willis)

• Sarah Willis (Horn)

“The horn is for boys”, Sarah Willis' schoolteacher told her, and so he suggested that she learn the flute or the oboe. That remark served as a challenge to the US-born Brit, who grew up in Tokyo, Boston, Moscow and London and had her first horn lesson at the age of 14. After studying for three years on the Performer's Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Sarah continued her training with Fergus McWilliam in Berlin. From 1991 to 2001 she was a member of the Staatskapelle Berlin and in 2001 became the first female brass player to secure a position with the Berlin Philharmonic. Sarah Willis has performed with many other leading orchestras and has appeared as a soloist and a chamber musician all over the world. She has recorded various acclaimed albums, her most recent of which, `Mozart y Mambo´, is a fusion of classical and Cuban rhythms. Sarah is passionate about music education and makes full use of digital technology and social media to reach audiences worldwide. She teaches at the Berlin Philharmonic Karajan Academy and especially enjoys creating and presenting Berlin Philharmonic Family Concerts. Sarah’s contributions to classical music have been recognised at the highest level in the UK when she was made an MBE – Member of the Order of the British Empire – by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Queen’s 2021 Birthday Honours List for services to charity and for the promotion of classical music.