Alfonso Padilla

With regard to his academic education, Alfonso Padilla studied music at the Conservatorio Superior de Música “Rafael Orozco” of Córdoba (Spain), having Bernardo Zagalaz and Manuel Ureña as his professors.  He holds  also a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts from the University of Jaén (Spain).

After his higher education, he took masterclass with leading saxophone figures, the most outstanding being Daniel Deffayet, J.M. Londeix, Claude Delangle, Vincent David, Phillip Braquart, or Gilles Tressos, among others. On a continuous basis, he receives classes from Eric Devallon, professor at the CNR de Bayonne (France), and from Arno Bornkamp, international soloist and professor at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Netherlands).

He is saxophone teacher at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música “Francisco Guerrero” in Sevilla. (Spain).

He forms part of various musical groups and projects, such as the Ziryâb Saxophone Quartet, with whom he recorded the album Tetraphone (2007). Among recognitions, the Ziryâb Saxophone Quartet was awarded 2nd Prize at the International Music Contest (Córdoba, Spain, 2006), and 1st Prize at the Francisco Salzillo Contest (Murcia, Spain, 2007). Along with Ziryâb, he performs concerts all over Spain and has been on tours around Italy and Morocco, the latter coming from the hand of Instituto Cervantes.

Besides, he performs in duo with pianist Santiago J. Báez, or percussionist Francisco J. Romero, and regularly collaborates with groups and ensembles specialising in performing contemporary music, such as Proyecto Lorca or Zahir Ensemble.

Along with Alberto Plaza, he forms the Duo Icarus, a pairing of saxophone and guitar, premiering works exclusively written for them by composers like Antonio J. Flores, Rafael Díaz, or Francisco Martín Quintero. Among others, they have played at the Scandinavian Saxophone Festival, celebrated in Aarhus (Denmark) in 2013 and the XVII World Saxophone Congress in Strassbourg (France) 2015 or XVII World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb (Croatia) 2018.

Interested in new technologies, he created saX&Media, a multidisciplinary project which includes, besides electro-acoustic music, other disciplines such as video art, photography, or dance. In this project, he works together with composers like Eneko Vadillo, Manuel Delgado, or Alberto Carretero.

Alfonso Padilla’s other focus is education and saxophone teaching, having extensive teaching experience starting in 1998. Since then, he has worked at different Higher Conservatories in Andalusia and, between 2006-2019, he has been serving as Professor of Saxophone at the Conservatorio Superior de Música “Manuel Castillo”, in Seville. In the same way, he regularly teaches advanced classes and courses at conservatories in Spain, like those held in Málaga, Úbeda, International University of Andalusia, and Musikene in San Sebastián. Furthermore, he has also taught at the following European institutions:

• Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (Tallinn, Estonia)
• Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana (Lugano, Switzerland)
• Royal Academy of Music of Aahrus - Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium (Aarhus, Denmark)
• Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional Boulogne-Billancourt (Paris, France)
• Conservatorio “Jaccopo Tomadini” (Unine, Italy)
• Conservatorio “L. Perosi” (Campobasso, Italy)
• Institute of Music “Frederik Chopin” (Warsaw, Poland)
• Vorarlberger Landeskonservatorium (Feldkirch, Austria)
• Koninklijk Conservatorium (Brussels, Belgium)
• Escola Superior de Música e das Artes do Espectáculo do Porto (Oporto, Portugal).
• Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa ESMAE (Lisbon, Portugal)
• Conservatorio Astor Piazzolla de Buenos Aires (Argentina)

He is invited to teach master classes in different courses and international sessions like Eventosax (2011 and 2014) in Velletri (Rome, Italy) together Fabrizio Paolleti or the International Saxophone Week Porto 2012 (Oporto, Portugal), where he formed part of the lineup of professors alongside J.M. Londeix, Arno Bornkamp, or Henk van Twillert.

In 2014, he tours USA, conducting seminars and offering recitals at four prestigious American universities: Messiah College (Mechanisburg, PA), Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove, PA), Mansfield University (Mansfield, PA), and Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY).

In 2015 he is invited to the Vienna Saxfest (Autria) where he plays as soloist in the ORF Radiokulturhaus and he participates on the XVII World Saxophone Congress in Strasbourg (France)

He has joined the V Seminario/encuentro entre Compositores y Saxofonistas at Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Argentina) in 2016, developing lectures and offering recitals in Buenos Aires and La Plata.

He also has been invited as guest at “I Asian Saxophone Congress” hold in Chiayi (Taiwán) in December 2016, perfominfg as sololist with CYC Wind Orchestra and teaching also at National University of Chiayi.