Praised for his “urgently visceral” playing (TEMPO), London-based Canadian saxophonist David Zucchi enjoys a varied career as a performer of classical, contemporary, experimental, and improvised music, collaborating regularly across the UK, Europe, and Canada. Recent appearances as a soloist and chamber musician include the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, St. John’s Smith Square, Cadogan Hall, London Contemporary Music Festival, Sounds Like This! Festival (Leeds), Verbier Festival (Switzerland), Vale de Cambra Music Festival (Portugal), the Glenn Gould Studio, and the Canadian High Commission in London. In 2021, he was awarded the Lorna Viol Memorial Prize from the Royal Overseas League Competition for Most Outstanding Musician from Overseas.
David collaborates regularly with accordionist Iñigo Mikeleiz-Berrade (as the Mikeleiz-Zucchi Duo, winners of the 2021 ROSL Mixed Ensemble Prize), soprano Patricia Auchterlonie (as Honkus), Syzygy, Alex Paxton’s Dream Musics (“The most joyous sound I’ve heard in ages” – New York Times), Ian Wadley (as Yesterday Shelf), Wynton Guess, and Ross K. He has been featured by Nonclassical, the Composers Platform, Daylight Music (Union Chapel) and the Royal Overseas League, appears on recordings from NMC and Birmingham Record Company, and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Resonance FM’s The News Agents.
With a keen interest in the performance of contemporary and experimental music, David has premiered and been the dedicatee of many works by emerging and established composers, including Alex Paxton, Adam Sherkin, Brian Elias, Caroline Bordignon, Christopher Fox, Michael Hughes, Paolo Griffin, and Piyawat Louillarpprasert. He has appeared with leading UK contemporary music ensembles including Ensemble x.y, Explore Ensemble, and An assembly.
He has given workshops and masterclasses in the UK and Canada, most recently at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he lectured on the performance of contemporary music, and has delivered sessions on professional skills at the Royal College of Music.
