Sarah Bayens (°2000) began playing the violin at the age of five and studied with Koen Rens in Turnhout before continuing her professional training at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles with Shirly Laub, until 2023. She is currently studying with Ulf Wallin at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna. She is a versatile musician dedicated to solo performances, chamber music, and orchestral playing.
In 2019, Sarah won the ‘Young Belgian Talent’ competition and was named ‘Young Musician of the Year 2022’ by the Belgian Music Press Association. She was part of Radio Klara’s ‘De Twintigers’ and received several awards from the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles.
She performed as a soloist with the ORFEO chamber orchestra in 2017, played the Kurt Weill violin concerto with the orchestra of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in February 2023, and was a soloist with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège in June 2023. Sarah has taken masterclasses with renowned violinists such as Hilary Hahn and Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and participated in festivals both in Belgium and abroad.
As a chamber musician, she plays in the Susato Trio, which won first prize in the ‘Génération Classique’ and ‘Supernova’ competitions, and since 2023, Sarah frequently collaborates with the Trio Fenix. She has orchestral experience as concertmaster of the Youth Orchestra Flanders and occasionally substitutes with the Brussels Philharmonic, La Monnaie, and the Belgian National Orchestra.