Joana Sá (b.1998) is a Portuguese saxophonist and conductor. She moves between performance, conducting, and teaching, developing an artistic practice that intersects classical, experimental, and improvised music.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music and a Master’s degree in Music Education from Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, having further complemented her training with a Postgraduate Degree in Wind Band Conducting from Escola Superior de Educação e Ciências Sociais de Leiria.
She has had the privilege of playing for distinguished saxophone teachers in private lessons and masterclasses, including Vincent David, Timothy McAllister, Marie-Bernadette Charrier, Rob Buckland, Kenneth Tse, Mario Marzi, Gerard McChrystal, Preston Duncan, Albert Juliá, Nicolas Prost, Fabrice Moretti, Yiannis Miralis, Joaquín Franco, Mário Marques, and Fernando Ramos.
She has attended advanced conducting classes with national and international conductors, including Felix Hauswirth, Andreja Šolar, André Granjo, José Eduardo Gomes, Tiago Alves, and João Malha.
In 2017, she won the 1st International Saxophone Competition “Buffet-Crampon”; in 2016, she was awarded 3rd prize at the 6th International Saxophone Competition “Vítor Santos” and 2nd prize at the 5th “Pequenos Grandes Talentos” Competition.
Joana collaborates with various projects, covering classical, contemporary, and improvised repertoire, notably NUDE and IKB Ensemble.
She is a member of LUME – Lisbon Underground Music Ensemble, with which she has performed at festivals such as Big Sounds Amsterdam, Festival Música e Artes do Dão, and Festival Internacional Douro Jazz.
She is part of the Solar Plexus Duo, with cellist Bruna de Moura, with whom she has premiered several works for this formation, working directly with various composers. Highlights include performances at Guimarães Noc Noc and FISP – Festival Internacional de Saxofone de Palmela.
She appears on several improvised music recordings released by the Creative Sources label.
She develops collaborative work in the creation of new music for saxophone and electronics, premiering works by Ana Roque, André Simões, Eduardo Marques, and Sara Marita, as well as the chamber opera O Inferno Ficou Mudo by Telmo Lopes.
She collaborates with spaces dedicated to contemporary music, with notable performances at Festival DME – Dias de Música Eletroacústica, Reencontros de Música Contemporânea (Artes no Tempo), Festival Música Viva, and CreativeFest. She has undertaken artistic residencies at Lisboa Incomum and Academia MIL.
Between 2023 and 2025, she served as Conductor and Artistic Director of Sociedade Musical e Recreativa Obidense. She programmed concerts that brought the philharmonic world closer to other art forms and conducted the Portuguese premiere of Malala – Symbol of Courage and Peace by composer Christin Hablewitz. She participated in FEM Banda – Festival Internacional de Bandas de Música (Lleida, Spain) and FOLIO – Festival Internacional de Literatura de Óbidos.
She teaches Saxophone and Wind Orchestra at the Conservatório de Música de Santarém. She is the author of the pedagogical book O Saxofone Feliz, a compendium of didactic games for beginner saxophonists.
Joana Sá 