Interview with Susan Nickalls for The Scotsman
Embedded Files
A beautiful article by Susan Nickalls for The Scotsman about the upcoming performance by the New European Ensemble at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. I had the pleasure of being interviewed for the article and speaking about my composition.
The programme brings together music by four international female composers: Kate Moore, Alice Yeung, Seung-Won Oh and myself, alongside live readings by Ali Smith from her Seasonal Quartet books.
My piece Hymn to Timeless Melancholy. Hymn to an English Summer. is part of this programme, which explores themes from Smith’s novels through music and literature.
Friday 28 August 2026 Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh. Read the article by in The Scotsman ↓
NEWS 2026: Certified Fitness Trainer NL Actief / EREPS 3
This might be the biggest news of 2026! I finally got my diploma of Fitness Trainer of NL Actief / EREPS Level 3 Fitness Instructor.
For the past 28 years, music has been the central focus of my life. It has shaped me as a composer, performer, and teacher, and I dedicated myself fully to reaching the highest level of artistic and professional excellence.
Alongside this journey, however, there has always been another lifelong passion: movement.
From figure skating, dance, improvisation, and Pilates to fitness training and through the personal experience of recovering from injuries, movement has always been an essential part of who I am. Until now, I considered it a personal passion. Today, it has become an equally important part of my professional identity.
I am delighted to announce that I have successfully completed the NL Actief Fitness Trainer diploma in the Netherlands, affiliated with the European Register of Exercise Professionals (EREPS). After practical training, an internship at SportCity, theoretical studies and exam, a portfolio, and the final examinations, I have officially added a new qualification to my career.
More importantly, I feel that I have found the framework that brings together everything I have loved for so many years. Rather than dividing myself between different interests, I now feel united as a person, a professional, and a creator.
Perhaps it took me 28 years to fully understand that these two worlds belong together. I now "move forward" with greater awareness, embracing both music and movement as complementary paths that enrich one another.
This is only the beginning. I look forward to continuing my education in fitness training while pursuing my ever-evolving career as a composer, musician, and educator.
16th August 2025: world premiere of Echoes of the Talking Trees at Festival Sanatorium Sonorum 2025, Czechia
On August 16th 2025, the second edition of the festival Sanatorium Sonorum took place at the Cabin Studio, Pečice. This international listening festival features compositions and artistic projects created on-site during residency programs. The selected artists represent contemporary trends in sonic arts. Richardx Grimm (SK), Sara Zamboni (IT) & Orchestr Berg (CZE), Klára Kratochvílová (CZE), Rafał Ryterski (PL), KittyChaosPlanet (CZE), Oliver Torr (CZE).
The event is set in Pečice, around of the house once owned by the brother of Bedřich Smetana, where the composer himself spent some time during his illness.
🇬🇧 https://www.fullmoonzine.cz/galerie/sanatorium-sonorum-16-8-2025-cabin-studio-pecice
🇨🇿 https://www.fullmoonzine.cz/rezidencia-pomalosti-sanatorium-sonorum-2025
Performance of "Echoes Of The Talking Trees" - Photos: Libor Galia
12th August 2025: world premiere of Escapism at PianoLab Festival in Martina Franca, Italy
Pianist Maddalena Giacopuzzi. Photo: Giulia Mantovani
Italian pianist Maddalena Giacopuzzi played the world premiere of Escapism, a new solo piano work by Sara Zamboni commissioned by PianoLab Festival 2025. She played at the Chiostro di San Domenico in Martina Franca and presented a rich program with works of Mozart, Chopin, Zamboni and Debussy.
Escapism explores the human condition of longing to escape reality, when certain circumstances drive the mind to seek refuge elsewhere. The piece gives voice to this impulse not through a tragic or melancholic flight, but as a passage into a playful parallel world. In this piano miniature, the musical language moves between lightness and surprise, as if the piano becomes a portal to a moment free of constraints, where Imagination takes over, and reality is left, if only for a moment, outside the door...
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Check the video on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpg29F9CJv4
Sara Zamboni: "I was deeply moved by how Ali Smith captures the beauty of brief encounters in her book"
For the project by the New European Ensemble with Scottish writer Ali Smith, composer Sara Zamboni created a new piece inspired by Summer, a novel from Smith’s 'Seasonal Quartet'.
Read full interview here:
New European Ensemble. Photo: Rob Overmeer
Composer Sara Zamboni: ‘The Royal Conservatoire felt like a playground’ - Interview on Contemporary Classical
Read the full story on Thea Derks’ blog and discover how literature, movement, and sound shape my latest works, premiering this June and August 2025.
Interview for De Nieuwe Muze
I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Thea Derks for the 2024-3/4 edition of De Nieuwe Muze, the Dutch music magazine. We spoke about my musical journey—from my roots in a small village in northern Italy to a decade of life and work in the Netherlands—as well as key moments in my international career as a composer. (NB. This interview is in Dutch).
The article also highlights upcoming world premieres, including my new work on June 7th in Amare Den Haag commissioned and performed by the New European Ensemble, and on August 16th my new music theatre piece at the festival Sanatorium Sonorum in the Czech Republic, performed by Berg Orchestra.
Curious to read more? check out https://denieuwemuze.nl/
The magazine is available at select bookstores and online via Magvilla.nl.
All my portrait photos: Alex Schröder
7th June 2025: world premiere of Hymn to Timeless Melancholy. Hymn to an English Summer
𝗔𝗹𝗶 𝗦𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗵’𝘀 acclaimed novels come alive — spoken, felt, and transformed — through brand-new music by four visionary female composers: 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝘂𝗻𝗴, 𝗦𝗲𝘂𝗻𝗴-𝗪𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗭𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗶.
The New European Ensemble invites you to an evening where boundaries blur — between literature and sound, between past and present, between the seasons and ourselves.
Ali Smith: 𝙄'𝙢 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙉𝙀𝙪𝙀. 𝙈𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧."
Listen closer. Feel deeper. Let the seasons move through you.
𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟳th 2025 h. 20:30 – Nieuwe Kerk - The Hague
𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟱th 2025 h. 20:15 – Muziekgebouw aan t’IJ, Amsterdam
Sara Zamboni Composer in Residence at the Cabin Studio in Pěčice - Czech Republic
Working on a new piece commissioned by Studio Hrdinů for the festival Sanatorium Sonorum in August 2025. I am invited to work for three weeks in the Cabin Studio of Pečice, located in the rural area close to Mladá Boleslav District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 200 inhabitants...
This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
World Premiere of False Assumptions
Festival Dag in de Branding - The Hague (NL)
"False Assumptions" has been commissioned by SMASH.duo, formed by Chloë Abbot (trumpet) and Moritz Koch (percussion). It is made up of six parts featuring movements developed together with the precious expertise of the choreographer and contemporary dancer Matea Kiselichka. Each part highlights this instrumental combination and their counterparts recorded on tape, forming a rich color palette. The premiere is in Korzo Theatre in The Hague on March 16th at 17:00.
"Brass and percussion: they have been musical peas in a pod since the days of the Ancient Greeks. Stereotypically they are surrounded by a whiff of the military and, more recently, jazz. SMASH.duo is well aware of this and has asked five composers to write new works that challenge these stereotypes. Trumpeter Chloë Abbott and percussionist Moritz Koch are both very active in the European new music scene. As SMASH.duo they battle age-old preconceptions around their instrument combination. Don’t expect a stiffly conventional recital, but rather something akin to a pop concert, with inventive lighting and stage design". [Read more]
World Premiere of Cosmic Magnet
Festival de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise (FR)
10/09/2023 World première of my composition Cosmic Magnet for soprano, flute / piccolo, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Voix Nouvelles - Festival de Royaumont 2023, Asnières-sur-Oise (France).
Thanks to Ensemble Court-Circuit and Jean Deroyer for rehearsing and conducting my piece. The soprano Johanna Vargas for its best possible rendering in such a short amount of time and with the heat of these days. The concerts have been recorded by Radio France Musique
Grateful to the Royaumont - abbaye & fondation: https://www.royaumont.com/
Review on Res Musica: https://www.resmusica.com/2023/09/14/les-creations-de-voix-nouvelles-a-royaumont/
Reportage from Royaumont on France Musique, 17-09-2023: https://www.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/podcasts/journal-de-la-creation/la-magie-royaumont-2706647
World Premiere of Chant Démonté
Grachtenfestival 2023 - Amsterdam NL
17/08/2023 World première of my string quartet Chant Démonté during the GrachtenFestival 2023 in the Felix Meritis concert hall, Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Grateful to Eudora Quartet for choosing to present my piece to the audience for the first time! I wrote it in 2020 and due to the pandemics I had to wait for three years!
Eudora Quartet: https://www.eudoraquartet.com/
An excerpt of the perfomance can be found here:
Composition course + Final presentation on the 'Day of the Composer' 2023
Do you write your own music and you are curious about the Contemporary style? Would you like to work on a new piece under the guidance of a professional composer? Would you like to present your work to the public during the Day of the Composer? Would you like to perform a piece of the 20th century repertoire together with other people? Various topics will be discussed during the lessons: What exactly is a score? I have so many ideas but I have trouble organising them.... How can I learn to listen and analyse better? How can I develop my artistic concept efficiently and bring it to life?
The first edition of the 'Dag van de Componist' (Composer's Day) was a great celebration and the kick-off of a new tradition. Composers, musicians, halls and festivals have taken up the challenge together to put the composers and new music in the spotlight with this collective event!
18th June 2022
THE NETHERLANDS
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The media attention was overwhelming. No one could have missed it. On June 18th 2022, New Music NOW organised the first Composer's Day. More than a hundred concerts took place throughout The Netherlands. It was widely covered in dozens of newspapers, magazines, radio programs and online channels.
FREE COMPOSITION WORKSHOP
BY SARA ZAMBONI
I am pleased to announce my active participation in the first "Dag van de Componist", on the 18th of June 2022. I offer a FREE Composition Workshop for young creative people interested in music composition. In this workshop we will talk about anything that might concern composition and there will be time for listening and discussing the submitted works of participants.
Application Deadline: Sunday 12th June 2022, h. 21:00.
DARK VOCALISE IN KORZO THEATRE
It’s time to announce the live performance of Dark Vocalise (2019), my composition for voice and 5-channels fixed media which will be performed in Korzo Theatre on April 30th 2022 during the evening 'Playground'. You will see on stage the wonderful mezzosoprano Elena Lorenzi together with 5 loudspeakers disposed in a semicircle behind her. I will be doing the audio design from the back of the theatre hall, where all the technology is controlled. Hope to see you there!
KORZO "PLAYGROUND" 2022
I have been selected as one of the six makers that will have the opportunity to perform their pieces in Korzo Theatre (The Hague, NL) on April 30th 2022! And I have also been the spoke-person for the video campagne!
NPO Radio4: "Vrije Geluiden" - Sara Zamboni
On December 18th 2021, h. 23:00 there will be an episode of the radio programme "Vrije Geluiden" dedicated to the composer Sara Zamboni, curated and presented by Aad van Nieuwkerk.
Trio for violin, cello and piano live recorded at NPO Radio4
On September 13th 2021, Loes Dooren (violin), Berber Heerema (cello) and Rutger Jansen (piano) performed my Trio for violin, cello and piano at the studios of NPO Radio4 in Hilversum for the program "Vrije Geluiden". Stay tuned to listen and see this episode with the complete live recording of my composition + interview.
Photo: Marc Wielaert
Chigiana International Festival 2021
Very pleased to have my experimental electronic music releases in the Chigiana International Festival 2021, dedicated to radio and sound art and radio and sound experimentation. The historical production of radio and sound art and the classics of the avant-garde, the Chigiana archive, monographs, contributions by artists and productions, focus on various authors, meetings, talks and interviews from inside and outside the festival.
Recording of Lumen de Lumine
The official recording of Lumen de Lumine (2018) performed and recorded by Ensemble Musikfabrik in November 2020 is now available on YouTube.
International Dance Day 2021
April 29th is the International Dance Day, a global celebration of dance, created by the Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), the main partner for the performing arts of UNESCO.
I was delighted to give my contribution being in the team with the choreographer and contemporary dance teacher Matea Kiselichka, the singer and improviser Milena Damnjanovic and the Bachelor Dance students of the ZJCM of Hangzhou (China). Through The Dancer’s Eye is a video created by Matea Kiselichka for the Macedonian Center of the International Theatre Institute.
Announced Dutch selection for ISCM New Music Days 2021
Nieuw Geneco represents the Netherlands in the ISCM network for the ISCM World New Music Days, in Shanghai and Nanning, from 17 to 25 September 2021. Six composers are allowed to continue.
My composition A Playful Piece for solo clarinet in A and recorded clarinets on stereo tape is selected for the Category X- electronic music with one instrumentalist.
NEW Official Artist Channel
In order to give a clearer framework to the electronic music releases of Cytokine Records, a new Official Artist Account has been created on YouTube. Past and future releases will be gathered here. Please listen, subscribe and tell a friend!
Dutch Choir Music NOW
My composition Imaginary Friends for three-parts female choir is available for free on Dutch Choir Music NOW, an initiative of the private patron Marcia, Nieuw Geneco and Dutch Composers Now, supports composers with commissioned works and provides amateur choirs with beautiful, new music to add to their repertoire. Discover and download the most beautiful compositions for your choir for free.
As a result of long thoughts about my creative needs and their destinations, I have founded Cytokine Records , an independent record label for all the forms of electronic music that deserves to be presented to the audience without shame. You can find all the releases on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Tidal etc. searching for my artist name 'Sara Zamboni Music'.
Open Day: 25th January 2020, Royal Conservatory of The Hague (NL)
Three presentations in the 'Stockhausen Analogue Studio' by Sara Zamboni, alumna of the Composition Department.
Open Day 2020 - M0101 Studio
"Working with some confidence in a place such as the Stockhausen Studio is a big advantage for a composer. In fact, it is a very powerful tool for any music creator. In order to be flexible, technologically-informed, develop a personal sound vision and imagination independently from music genres and styles, it is recommended to be familiar with some essential principles of electronic music. These principles can be demonstrated ad practiced in this studio. Understanding the priority of having sounds that are at the same time 'interesting' and 'usable in a composition' requires a long process of exploration, generation, taste development and selection. This studio can be a monster-instrument to be played, a meditation place, a fully equipped workstation and an inspiration for a future musical profession". SZ
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