Sofía Salazar Sánchez

Born in San Fernando de Apure, Venezuela, in 1999. From 2017 to 2023, she studied at the Reina Sofía School of Music’s Flute Chair with professor Jacques Zoon. In 2020 she received the Diploma to the most outstanding student of her chair.

She entered the Venezuelan National System of Youth Orchestras and Choirs. She later studied at the Universidad Experimental de las Artes, the Simón Bolívar Conservatory, and the Latin-American Flute Academy with professor José García Guerrero. She has attended masterclasses by Javier Montilla, María Fernanda Castillo, Nicolás Real, María Gabriela Rodríguez, Sandrine Tilly, Deal Pepper, James Strauss, Emmanuel Pahud, Jaime Martín, Pirmin Grehl, Heinz Holliger (chamber music), Felix Renggli (during the Santander Music and Academy Encounter) and she has participated in a meeting with Paco Varoch.

She has been part of the Symphony and Regional Orchestras of Apure as a main flutist, with whom she has performed as soloist under the baton of maestros Carlos Garcia Guerra, Luis Fernando Ruiz Bayona and Nicolás Real. She has also been conducted by Christian Vasquez, Andrés González, Cesar Iván Lara, Pablo Castellanos, Alfredo Rugeles, and Gregory Carreño. Additionally, she has been a member of the Centro-Llano-Occidental Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and that of the National Children Symphony Orchestra in 2013/2014 as main flutist, with whom she represented Venezuela in the International Music Festival in Salzburg, under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. She has also performed as flautist within the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra. In 2015 she performed with the Siegfried Idyll Chamber Orchestra at the Lincoln Center in New York, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. In 2016 she was awarded second prize at the 2nd National Flute Competition in Venezuela, which led her to perform as soloist with the City of Caracas Symphony Orchestra in the Humboldt Cultural Association. In 2019 she won the Renzo Giubergia Award (Italy), in 2020 the second prize at the 19th Intercentros Melómano Competition and in 2021 the first prize at the Juventudes Musicales de España Competition in the wind category.

As a student of the School, she has been part of the Freixenet Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Péter Eötvös, Jaime Martín, Pablo Heras-Casado and Juanjo Mena, as well as part of the Sinfonietta with Johannes Kalitzke, and that of the Viesgo Camerata under the baton of Anne-Sophie Mutter, with whom she performed as soloist conducted by Hansjörg Schellenberger. She has also performed in Tarragona within the World Heritage Cities series and with the Extremadura's Orchestra. In 2021 she participated in the 30th anniversary tour of the School with the Freixenet Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada, with whom she performed at Madrid's Teatro Real, at Bratislava's Reduta Hall, at Budapest's Liszt Ferenc Academy and at Vienna's Musikverein. She has also been a member of the Harmonie and the Saint-Saëns ensembles, the EY Ricercata Quintet and the Bozza Quartet.