Asya Fateyeva

Saxophone

IN THE MAGAZINE

In the magazine

From John Dowland to Lana Del Rey: on 27 June, Asya Fateyeva will be performing an eclectic programme at the Ludwigsburg Castle Festival, alongside baroque harpist Luise Enzian and lutenist Thor-Harald Johnsen.

NEW RECORDINGS

Asya Fateyeva’s recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, performed with cellist Eckart Runge and accordionist Andreas Borregaard, has now been released on the Berlin Classics label.

NEW WITH US

We are delighted to announce our collaboration with saxophonist Asya Fateyeva, who is captivating a growing international audience with her distinctive playing and innovative programme concepts.

FRI 26.06.

20:00
Filmpark Babelsberg

SAT 27.06.

19:00
Ludwigsburger Schloss

THU 02.07.

22:00
Hotel Schützen Rheinfelden

Biography

Asya Fateyeva is one of today’s most exciting classical saxophonists, celebrated for her artistry, versatility, and fresh approach to the instrument. Born in Crimea, she captivates audiences with programs that span centuries and genres—from Baroque and Classical to Romantic and contemporary music, jazz, and world music. Her playing combines technical brilliance, emotional depth, and a distinctive, instantly recognizable sound.

She first drew international attention in 2014, making history as the first woman to reach the finals of the prestigious International Adolphe Sax Competition in Belgium, where she won third prize. Since then, she has been a trailblazer in establishing the saxophone as a prominent voice in the classical world.

Her career has taken her to some of the world’s most prestigious stages and festivals. She has appeared with orchestras such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Vienna Symphony, SWR Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Ensemble Resonanz, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Munich Symphonics, and MDR Symphony Orchestra. She has collaborated with renowned conductors including Robin Ticciati, Bar Avni, Nil Venditti, Vladimir Spivakov, Joseph Bastian, Dirk Kaftan, and Michael Sanderling, performing in iconic venues like the Vienna Musikverein and at major festivals including Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lucerne.

Highlights of the 2025/26 season include her return to the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and debuts with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna at the Brucknerhaus Linz, the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, and the Staatsorchester Darmstadt. She continues her collaboration with Lautten Compagney Berlin, with whom she released her second CD, Dancing Queen, featuring music by ABBA and Rameau, awarded the Opus Klassik in 2025. Her upcoming CD, Nutcracker Unwrapped—a new take on Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker arranged by Wolf Kerschek—will be released in autumn 2025. She also returns to the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, where she was a resident artist in 2024.

Alongside her solo work, Fateyeva is deeply committed to chamber music. She creates inventive programs, including arrangements of Bach’s Goldberg Variations for cello, accordion, and saxophone, music of the 1920s, and cross-genre projects blending jazz and world music. Her wide-ranging curiosity and openness make her a truly cosmopolitan artist, integrating diverse influences into her music.

Fateyeva began her studies as a young student at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Professor Daniel Gauthier and further honed her craft in France with Claude Delangle (Paris) and Jean-Denis Michat (Lyon). She completed an advanced chamber music program at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.

Today, she shares her expertise as a professor of classical saxophone at both the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg and the Musikhochschule Lübeck.

Saison 2025/26

This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorised by the artist management.

Download Bio EN

Repertoire

France/Switzerland

Claude Debussy Rhapsodie mauresque 10‘ (1903)

André Caplet Légende 14‘ (1903)

Vincent d´Indy Choral varié op.55 11‘ (1903)

Florent Schmitt Légende Op.66 11‘ (1918)

Jacques Ibert Concertino da camera 13‘ (1935)

Darius Milhaud Scaramouche 9‘ (1937)

Frank Martin Ballade for alto saxophone 14‘ (1938)

Henri Tomasi Saxophone Concerto 19‘ (1949)

Pierre-Max Dubois Concerto 20‘ (1962)

Marius Constant Concertante 19‘ (1978/79)

Guillaume Connesson Kind of Trane 18' (2004)

Jean-Denis Michat Shams 18‘ (2010)

USA

Philip Glass Violin Concerto 1 25' (1987)

John Williams Escapades 15‘ (2002)

Thomas Sleeper Concerto 14‘ (2010)

John Adams Saxophone Concerto 28‘ (2013)

Central Europe

Erwin Schulhoff Hot-Sonate 15‘ (1930)

Wolfgang Jacobi Konzert 17‘ (1961)

Edison Denisov Concerto 27' (1975)

Stefan Niculescu Sinfonia Concertante „Cantos“ 23‘ (1981)

Tristan Keuris Three Sonnets 10‘ (1989)

Krzysztof Penderecki Concerto for alto 20‘ (1984)

Myriam Marbe Saxophone Concerto 32‘ (1986)

Krzysztof Meyer Concerto 17‘ (1992)

Alexandre Raskatov Farewell from the birds of passage 17´ (1994)

Dimitri Terzakis (k)ein Helden Leben 15´ (1995)

Jacob TV Tallahatchie Concerto 21‘ (2001)

Péter Eötvös Focus 22‘ (2022)

Gavin Bryars Allegrasco 20‘ (1983)

Harrison Birthwistle Panic 21‘ (1996)

Michael Nyman Where the Bee Dances 17' (2001)

Edward Gregson Concerto 24‘ (2004)

Mark-Anthony Turnage Hidden Love Song 11‘ (2005)

Gabriel Prokofiev Saxophone Concerto 39' (2016)

James Macmillan Saxophone Concerto 17‘ (2017)

Anna Clyne Glasslands 25' (2022)

Jazz influence

Erwin Schulhoff Hot-Sonate 15‘ (1930)

Dmitri Smirnov Triple Concerto for saxophone, piano and double-bass Op. 21 18‘ (1977)

Nikolai Kapustin Saxophone Concerto Op. 50 16‘ (1978)

Andrei Eshpai Saxophone Concerto 22‘ (1985)

Anders Koppel Saxophone Concerto No. 1 32‘ 1997

Anders Koppel Saxophone Concerto No. 2 23‘ (2003)

John Psathas Omnifenix 16‘ (2000)

John Psathas Zahara 24‘ (2005)

Women Composers

Fernande Decruck Sonate en Ut# 23‘ (1943)

Paule Maurice Tableaux de Provence 14‘ (1948)

Ida Gotkovsky Concerto 22‘ 1987

Nicola LeFanu Concerto for saxophone and strings 24‘ (1989)

South

Luciano Berio Chemins IV 10‘ (1975) Recit Chemins VII 14‘

Heitor Villa-Lobos Fantasia 11‘ (1948)

Avner Dorman Saxophone Concerto 14‘ (2003)

John Psathas Zahara 24‘ (2005)

John Psathas Omnifenix 16‘ (2000)

Jean-Denis Michat Shams 18‘ (2010)

Roberto Molinelli Four Pictures from New York 24‘ (2011)

Nordic Sounds

Lars-Erik Larsson Concerto 20‘ (1934)

Esa-Pekka Salonen Concerto 17‘ (... auf den ersten Blick und ohne zu wissen...) (1980)

Anders Koppel Saxophone Concerto No. 1 32‘, No. 2 23‘ (2003)

Kalevi Aho Chamber Symphony No. 3 28‘ (2005)

Kalevi Aho Saxophone Concerto 25‘ (2014)

Outi Tarkiainen Saivo 27' (2025)

Japanese

Takashi Yoshimatsu Cyber-bird Concerto Op. 59 24´ (1994)

Toshio Hosokawa Saxophone Concerto 13‘ (1998)

Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra

Alexander Glasunov Saxophone Concerto Op. 109 15‘ (1934)

Lars-Erik Larsson Concerto 20‘ (1934)

Henri Tomasi Concerto for Alto Saxophon 19´ (1949)

Ingolf Dahl Concerto for Alt Saxophone and wind ensemble 19' (1953)

Ida Gotkovsky Saxophone Concerto 17'

Frank Martin Ballade für alto saxophone, strings, piano and percussion 15‘ (1938)

Ida Gotkovsky Variations pathétiques 31‘ (1980)

Gavin Bryars Allegrasco 20‘ (1983)

Claude T. Smith Fantasia 12´ (1983)

Nicola LeFanu Concerto for saxophone and strings 24‘ (1989)

Krzysztof Meyer Concerto Op. 79 17‘ (1992)

Giya Kancheli Night Prayers 23‘ (2005)

Toshio Mashima Birds Concerto 17´ (2009)

Kalevi Aho Saxophone Concerto 25‘ (2014)

David Maslanka Concerto for alt Saxophone and wind ensemble 42' (2016)

Baroque, classical and romantic transcriptions

J.S. Bach (1685-1750) Concerto in G minor BWV 1056r 10‘

Concerto in A minor BWV 1041 14‘

Double concerto in C minor BWV 1060 15‘

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Concerto in C major RV 446 9‘

The Seasons 42‘

Benedetto Marcello (1673-1747) Concerto in C minor 10‘

CPE Bach (1714-1788) diverse concerti

Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) Concerto in C major 11‘

W.A. Mozart (1756-1791) Concerto in C major K.314 22‘

Concerto K.622 31‘

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) Concertino in G major for English Horn 10'

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) Concerto in E-flat major 10‘

Johannes Brahms Sonatas Op.120 No. 1 & No. 2 Version for Saxophone and Orchestra

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Violin Concerto Op.64 30'

Francois Borne (1840-1920) Fantasie Brillante sur des airs de Carmen 15'

Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944) Concertino D-Dur Op.107 9'

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Violin Concerto Op.47 38'

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) Tango Suite 12'

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) Violin Concerto d-moll Op. 46 39'

References

“A remarkable recording, realized with such stylistic finesse that even purists may be won over. This has far more behind it than the virtuosic mastery of the performers alone. Saxophonist Asya Fateyeva brings immense experience as a fearless musical trailblazer.”

Neue Ruhr Zeitung, 28 May 2026

"With Asya Fateyeva, Eckart Runge, and Andreas Borregaard, three renowned soloists have joined forces for this project (...). And indeed, one is tempted to say that these thoroughly familiar variations have rarely been experienced with such richness and variety in recent years. The instruments dance and sing, smile and ponder. Here, the intimate suddenly takes on the character of chamber orchestra music. Then again—as in the great Variation No. 25—the three musicians pause to meditate together. And as a listener, one simply has the privilege of witnessing it all from very close range."

Guido Fischer, rondomagazin.de, 30 September 2026

“Asya Fateyeva shapes this piece with compelling sonority: rasping and sharp, then again with a soft, almost singing tone... Fateyeva allows the saxophone to oscillate between nobility and improvisational freedom – and is rewarded with frenetic applause at the end.”

Neu-Ulmer Zeitung, 14 February 26