biography

Winner of the 2025 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, saxophonist Estel Vivó Casanovas is an emerging voice on the international scene. Originally from Barcelona, Spain, and now based in Rochester, NY, she is celebrated for her compelling performance presence. 

Highlights of her upcoming 26-27 season include her YCA Carnegie Hall debut as well as her Washington, D.C. recital debut co-presented by Washington Performing Arts and Young Concert Artists at Church of the Epiphany, and a featured recital at Germany’s prestigious Usedom Music Festival. She will perform as a soloist with the Huxford Symphony Orchestra and present recitals across Europe and the U.S., presented by organizations such as Washington Performing Arts, the Lucerne Rachmaninoff Foundation, and the Tennessee Arts Academy. 

A multi-award winning musician, her accolades include First Prize at the 2024 Manhattan International Music Competition, First Prize at the 2023 International Saxophone Academy, and Second Prize at the 2021 International Music Competition in Krakow, Poland. She has previously performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall and with the Symphony Orchestra of the Terrassa Conservatory. Her artistry has also been featured frequently on broadcasts like Catalunya Musica. 

Alongside performing, Estel is an active researcher and teacher, directing the New Horizons Saxophone Ensemble at the Eastman School of Music. Her research project, Masked Dissonance: Avant-Garde Music as a Subtle Resistance in Francoist Spain, explores mid-20th-century experimental music. 

Estel holds a Master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree under Chien-Kwan Lin. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Liceu Conservatory of Barcelona, where she studied under Albert Julià, and was a recipient of the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation scholarship.