Gabriel Sanchez Porras

Assistant Professor

Dr. Gabriel Sánchez Porras is a versatile saxophonist and educator from San José, Costa Rica. Currently, he serves as Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he teaches classical and jazz saxophone, directs the jazz ensemble, coaches the saxophone quartet, and instructs courses in the jazz area. As a clinician, he has been invited to teach at the Universidad de Costa Rica, Instituto Nacional de Música, and Universidad Autónoma de México.

Sánchez Porras has performed internationally in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Cuba, France, Switzerland, and throughout the United States. Notable appearances include the include the Montreux Jazz Festival, Iowa Jazz Festival, Festival Internacional de las Artes, Cosquín Rock, Sax Fest Costa Rica, Encuentro Universitario Internacional De Saxofón México, and the North American Saxophone Conference. He has earned recognition in competition, achieving third prize at the 2017 ALASAX Classic Saxophone Competition (Colombia)and second at the 2019 Yucatán Pan-American Classical Saxophone Competition (Mexico).

In Costa Rica, he performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra, and the San José Concert Band. In addition to his experience as a concert saxophonist, he has recorded and collaborated in genres ranging from Latin and pop to reggae and jazz, sharing the stage with artists like Father John Misty, Armando Manzanero, Debi Nova, and Ismael Serrano. His principal teachers include Kenneth Tse, Nathan Bogert, Damani Phillips and Harold Guillen.

He is Yamaha Performing Artist and performs on Yamaha saxophones exclusively.

Education

D.M.A. in Saxophone Performance and Pedagogy, University of Iowa
M.M. in Saxophone Performance, Ball State University
B.M. in Saxophone Performance, National Institute of Music of Costa Rica