ÁLVARO COLLAO LEÓN
Saxophonist · Composer · Arranger · Improviser · Educator

ÁlvaroCollaoLeón.

Contemporary music · New sonic territories
Vienna, Austria · International

↓ Discover
01 / BiographyBackground

About
the artist.

Álvaro performing on stage

Álvaro Collao León (Master of Arts in Performance and Education) is a Vienna-based saxophonist, composer, arranger, improviser and educator. His artistic work spans contemporary concert music, interdisciplinary performance and improvisation.

He teaches classical saxophone at the Leonard Bernstein Institute for Wind and Percussion Instruments, and saxophone and chamber music with a focus on contemporary music at the Institute for Composition Studies, Sound and Music Production (IKT), University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw). He also teaches classical saxophone and improvisation at the Friedrich Gulda Music School in Vienna.

He is Executive and Artistic Director of the Tarapacá International Music Festival and ChileSaxFest.

His studies took him to the University of Chile in Santiago with Miguel Villafruela, the Conservatoire de Bordeaux with Marie-Bernadette Charrier, and Vienna's Music and Arts University with Lars Mlekusch, Andrew Middleton and Wolfgang Liebhart.

His distinctions include prizes at the Pan-American Classical Saxophone Competition in Mexico City, Vienna's Fidelio Competition (2012 and 2014), the Osaka International Music Competition (2015), and the Austrian Startstipendium für Musik und darstellende Kunst (2017).

He has worked with composers including Friedrich Cerha, Georg Friedrich Haas, Peter Eötvös, Olga Neuwirth, Beat Furrer, Georges Aperghis, Chaya Czernowin, Alberto Posadas, Pierluigi Billone, François Sarhan and Jennifer Walshe, among many others.

His performances have taken him to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Konzerthaus, Musikverein Vienna, Mozarteum Salzburg, Volksoper Vienna and National Concert Hall Taipei, and to festivals including Wien Modern, Wiener Festwochen, Klangspuren Schwaz, Donaueschinger Musiktage and Bregenzer Festspiele.

Collaborations include Klangforum Wien, PHACE, Schallfeld Ensemble, œnm, Wiener Symphoniker, Tonkünstler Orchestra and FIVE SAX. Álvaro is a Selmer Paris and D’Addario artist.

02 / ProjectsCollaborations

Projects &
collaborations.

HUUUM live at Rewire
HUUUM / Experimental performance
Contemporary music performance
Contemporary music / Solo & ensemble

FIVE SAX

International saxophone ensemble, combining virtuoso performance and stagecraft.

Official project ↗

Avido Duo · Firsanova–Collao

Chamber music collaborations and artistic exchange.

Enquire ↗

ChileSaxFest

Festival devoted to saxophone repertoire, innovation and performance in Chile.

Contact ↗

Masterclasses

Saxophone, chamber music, improvisation and concert preparation in Austria and internationally.

Get in touch ↗
03 / CompositionsOriginal works

Compositions &
arrangements.

Environmental Resilience

Viridis — for cello and saxophone

Wassertiefen — for two baritone saxophones

Session with Frida — for saxophone and electronics

Wüstenvisionen

Dialogos Tarkas

Original works and arrangements for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, saxophone ensembles, big band and orchestra.

Duo & trioQuartet & quintetSaxophone ensembleWoodwindsPop ensembleLatin & jazz big bandSymphony orchestra

For scores, instrumentation, commissions and performance enquiries, please contact the artist directly.

Request scores ↗
04 / RepertoireSelected works

Selected
repertoire.

Selected works from the repertoire published on the official artist website. For a complete programme or repertoire list, please enquire.

Premieres / Ensemble

  • Ragnhild Berstad — trãnseõ
  • Andreas Eduardo Frank — Noise Is a Common Sound II
  • Sara Glojnarić — sugarcoating (v3.0)
  • Mikołaj Laskowski — Fiasco
  • Sivan Cohen Elias — Holes and Tunnels
  • Chaya Czernowin — Knights of the Strange
  • Katharina Klement — In dem HIMMEL benannten Darüber
  • Héctor Garcés — Instrucciones para bordar una arpillera
  • Daniel Osorio — Zikkus-S
  • Hannes Kerschbaumer — Patina
  • Beat Furrer — Nero su Nero
  • François Sarhan — Ephémère Enchaîné
  • Pierluigi Billone — MAAT ME / FACE Dia.De

Solo / Chamber Music

  • Georges Aperghis — P.S. / Rasch
  • Fuminori Tanada — Mysterious Morning
  • Luciano Berio — Sequenza IXb / VIIb
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen — In Freundschaft / Amour
  • Christian Lauba — Hard / Nine Études
  • Giacinto Scelsi — Three Pieces
  • Philip Glass — Melodies for Saxophone
  • Ryo Noda — Phoenix / Mai
  • Paule Maurice — Tableaux de Provence
  • Pierre Boulez — Dialogue de l’ombre double
  • Alberto Posadas — Anabasis
  • Gérard Grisey — Anubis Nout
  • Tōru Takemitsu — Distance
  • Thomas Kessler — Lufttore
  • Beat Furrer — In mia vita da vuolp
  • Igor Stravinsky — L’Histoire du soldat (arr. Álvaro Collao)

Concertos

  • Jean Rivier — Concerto for alto saxophone, trumpet and strings
  • Pierre Max Dubois — Concerto for alto saxophone
  • Florent Schmitt — Légende, Op. 66
  • Claude Debussy — Rhapsody for orchestra and saxophone
  • Jacques Ibert — Concertino da camera
  • Darius Milhaud — Scaramouche
  • Frank Martin — Ballade
  • Henri Tomasi — Ballade
  • Fernande Decruck — Sonata in C♯
  • Alexander Glazunov — Concerto in E♭
  • Georg Friedrich Haas — Concerto for baritone saxophone and orchestra
  • Lars-Erik Larsson — Concerto
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos — Fantasia
05 / MediaVideo & audio

Listen &
watch.

Georges Aperghis — P.S. ↗Beat Furrer — In mia vita da vuolp ↗Thomas Kessler — Lufttore ↗FIVE SAX — performances ↗

These links open YouTube searches for the named recordings; direct video links can be added when confirmed.

06 / TestimonialsArtists & press

Words from
collaborators.

“Alvaro Collao León ist ein großartiger Musiker mit enormem musikalischem Bewusstsein und Repertoire Kenntnis.”Beat Furrer · Composer and conductor
“Splendide artist d’envergure internationale.”Marie-Bernadette Charrier · Saxophonist
“We praised Alvaro as the best woodwind performer of the Osaka competition!”The Sax · Japan
“I often have the opportunity to work with him as a member of various ensembles.”Johannes Kalitzke · Composer and conductor

Excerpts from testimonials published on the artist’s previous website.

08 / CalendarPast engagements

Concert
archive.

The previous website lists engagements through 2025. No upcoming 2026–2027 dates have been confirmed for this page yet.

Ask about upcoming concerts ↗