Estel Vivó Casanovas: The Virtuoso Saxophone

Estel Vivó Casanovas is a saxophonist from Barcelona, Spain, currently based in Rochester, NY. She has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall and with the Symphony Orchestra of the Terrassa Conservatory. A multi-award-winning musician, her achievements include First Prize at the 2024 Manhattan International Music Competition (YA Category) and First Prize at the 2023 International Saxophone Academy, among other national and international prizes. She is a winner of the 2025 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions.

 

 

Estel has been featured in the media on multiple occasions. Her live concerts have been broadcast on programs such as Els programes de Catalunya Música from Catalunya Música. She has also been interviewed on radio programs like Esmorzem amb Estel Vivó Casanovas (Catalunya Música) and El Submarí (Ràdio Terrassa), as well as in publications including Diari de Terrassa and Gaseta de Matadepera.

 

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​Alongside her performance Estel is also a researcher. Her current project, Masked Dissonance: Avant-Garde Music as a Subtle Resistance in Francoist Spain, examines how experimental music developed within the cultural and political context of the Cold War and mid-20th-century Spain. She presented this research at the Festival Internacional de Saxofone de Palmela (Portugal).

 

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Estel holds a Master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she is now pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in saxophone performance, both under the mentorship of Professor Chien-Kwan Lin. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Liceu Conservatory of Barcelona, where she studied with Professor Albert Julià Torné and was supported by a scholarship from the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation.