Sara Ferrández Castro

Biography:

Widely acclaimed for her warm, effortless and impeccable sound, Sara Ferrández is fast emerging as one of the most exciting violists of her generation. Despite her youth Sara has already performed in some of the major concert halls around the globe, including Berlin Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie,Victoria Hall, L’Auditori in Barcelona or Salzburg Festspielhaus.

Recent and forthcoming highlights include her debut with the Spanish National Symphony Orchestra (Julio García Vico) and Orquesta de Extremadura (Andrés Salado), as well as her collaboration with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (Cristian Macelaru), Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (Lina González Granados) and Orquesta Sinfónica RTVE (Chloé van Soeterstède). This season will mark the start of a very exciting and inspiring partnership with the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias as their new Artistic Collaborator. 2023 also sees the release of Sara’s first EP: “En La Intimidad”, where she explores one of Bach’s greatest works, the Suite No.1 in G major.

Chamber music has always held a special place in Ferrández’s musical life. She is frequently invited to play in several international festivals, including Verbier Festival, Classiche Forme, Arezzo Festival, Utrecht Chamber Music Festival or Sion Festival, where she has the pleasure of collaborating with highly esteemed artists such as Janine Jansen, Beatrice Rana, Amihai Grosz, Pablo Ferrández, Vilde Frang, Kian Soltani or Daishin Kashimoto, amongst others.

Sara is a former member of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic (2019-2022), and she regularly performs with members of the orchestra. She’s also part of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Daniel Barenboim and she has collaborated on several occasions with the ensemble “Mutter’s Virtuosi”, performing alongside world-class violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Born in Madrid in 1995, Sara grew up in a family of musicians, and started playing viola at 3 years-old before attending the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia in Madrid aged 13. She continued her studies in the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, under internationally renowned violist Tabea Zimmermann, where she obtained both her Bachelor and Master degree. Currently, Sara is enjoying her time as a student at the Kronberg Academy, studying with Professor Nobuko Imai.

Sara plays on a David Tecchler viola (1730), the third of 3 Violas and a bow from Nicolas Léonard Tourte – both generously loaned by Stephan Jansen on behalf and as a member of the Stretton Society.