Katia Beaugeais is a French-Australian composer and saxophonist based in Sydney. Katia has performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and has done a number of solo recitals featuring her own compositions on ABC Classic FM, 2MBS-FM and at international new music festivals. Katia won the Fellowship of Australian Composer’s Encouragement Award in 2006 for her first orchestral work, Aurora Australis. Two of her chamber works have been premiered by the Sydney Symphony Fellowship players: Atlantis (2006) and The Last Flight of Saint-Ex (2008).
Last year, Katia performed to international acclaim by winning the prestigious 2010 International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) Young Composer Award for her soprano saxophone piece, Sound Box which she performed in a live broadcast on ABC Classic FM during the 2010 ISCM World New Music Days festival. As part of the 80 works selected from more than 700 from 52 countries, her composition was voted best piece out of the 43 selected entries from artists aged under 35, by a distinguished panel of international experts.
This year in April, Katia was guest composer at the 2011 ISCM World New Music Days in Zagreb (Croatia) for the premiere of Manifesto pour la Paix (Manifesto for Peace) for winds, strings, piano and alto saxophone, which was performed in the closing ceremony by Ensemble Zeitfluss from Graz, Austria. She was also invited to perform a saxophone recital at a special reception for the Australian Embassy in Croatia where she premiered Sounds from Bondi for soprano saxophone, specially composed for this occasion.
Katia recently gained a Master of Music degree in Composition with High Distinction under the guidance of Matthew Hindson at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She teaches composition and chamber music ensembles at the Sydney Conservatorium and saxophone at MLC School.