Sarah Bayens (°2000) started playing the violin at the age of 5. She studied with Koen Rens in Turnhout until she started her professional studies at the ‘Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles’ in the class of Shirly Laub, until 2023.
Sarah is a versatile musician who wants to immerse herself in as many aspects of classical music as possible ( solo, chamber music and orchestra).
In 2019, Sarah won the ‘Young Belgian Talent’ competition. She was recently elected ‘Young Musician of the Year 2022’ by the Association of the Belgian Music Press and this year she is also part of ‘De Twintigers’, organized by Radio Klara.
The Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles awarded her several prizes, including Prix Maurice Lefranc, Prix Colonel de Bisschop, etc.
In 2017 she played as a soloist with the ORFEO chamber orchestra, and in February 2023 she interpreted Kurt Weill’s concerto for violin and orchestra with the orchestra of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. In June 2023 she performed as a soloist with the Orchester Philharmonique de Liège as part of the ‘Classic Academy’.
She also received masterclasses with violinists such as Hilary Hahn, Lorenzo Gatto, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Ulf Wallin, Andreas Janke, Alan Brind,… She has also been invited to festivals such as Midis Minimes, Zomer van Sint-Pieter, Musicorum Festival, Festival en Poitou …
Sarah has a lot of orchestral experience. She was, for example, concertmaster in the ‘Youth Orchestra Flanders’, for a period of two years, where she played with conductors such as Stéphane Denève and Edwin Outwater. She also sometimes replaces in ‘Brussels Philharmonic’, and in 2021 she won the Orchestra Academy of the Belgian National Orchestra and de Orchestra of ‘La Monnaie’.