Sae Shimabara

Sae Shimabara, born in Hyogo, Japan, initially studied in Tokyo at the Toho-Gakuen School of Music in the soloist class of Koichiro Harada. From 2000 to 2002, she continued her studies in Munich as a master class student of Ana Chumachenco at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater and with Urs Stiehler at the Richard Strauss Conservatory with the help of a scholarship from the Rohm Music Foundation. In addition, she attended masterclasses with Zakhar Bron, Pinchas Zuckermann, Herman Krebbers and Igor Oistrakh.

In addition to numerous solo performances with orchestras such as the Century Orchestra in Osaka, the Hyogo Symphony Orchestra and the Heemdstede Philharmonic Orchestra, Sae Shimabara is also active as a chamber musician.

She has made guest appearances at the Aspen Music Festival and the Casals Music Festival, among others. She also played as a ‘Rising Star’ at the ‘La Jolla Music Festival’ in the USA and as part of the ‘Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival’ with Carter Brey, principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sae Shimabara has won the Osaka International Music Competition (Grand Prix) and has also been honoured several times at national level ─ with the music prize of the second largest Japanese daily newspaper ‘Asahi Shimbun’ and the ‘Sakai Tokitada’ prize.

Sae Shimabara has been a member of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden since 2003.