David Zucchi

London-based Canadian saxophonist David Zucchi enjoys a varied career as a performer of classical, contemporary, experimental, and improvised music, collaborating regularly across the UK, Europe, and Canada.

David appears on recordings from Delphian Records, Signum Records, NMC, Another Timbre, Sawyer Editions, and Birmingham Record Company, and his debut solo album of original compositions was released in December 2024 on Toronto-based label people | places | records. Recent appearances as a soloist and chamber musician include Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, St. John’s Smith Square, Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, London Contemporary Music Festival, Sounds Like This!, Światłodźwięki Festival (Poznan), Verbier Festival, and Vale de Cambra Music Festival (Portugal). In 2026, David gave the UK premiere of Tyshawn Sorey's saxophone concerto "Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith)" with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jack Sheen.

Regular collaborators include accordionist Iñigo Mikeleiz-Berrade as MZ Duo, Ferio Saxophone Quartet, Alex Paxton’s Dream Musics (“The most joyous sound I’ve heard in ages” – New York Times), and Ian Wadley.

With a keen interest in the performance of contemporary and experimental music, David has premiered and been the dedicatee of many works by emerging and established composers. He has performed and recorded with leading UK contemporary music ensembles including Explore Ensemble, Apartment House, GBSR Duo, Octandre Ensemble, and An Assembly.

David has worked as an Associate Lecturer at Goldsmiths University and BIMM University. He has delivered workshops and guest lectured at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, University of Huddersfield, University of Toronto, and the Hochschule Luzern.

David was born in London (UK), and grew up in Toronto (Canada). He is a graduate of the Royal College of Music’s Master’s and Artist Diploma programmes, where he studied with Kyle Horch as an Edward and Helen Hague Scholar. Previously, David attended the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, where he studied saxophone with Wallace Halladay and composition with Alexander Rapoport. Upon graduating, he was awarded the William and Phyllis Waters Graduating Award, the Faculty’s top graduating prize. He recently completed a PhD at the University of Huddersfield’s CeReNeM on experimental approaches to saxophone intonation, supported by the Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund’s Belle Shenkman Award.

David has received additional support from the Canada Council for the Arts, David and Marcia Beach Summer Study Award, the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto, the William and Phyllis Waters Graduating Award from the University of Toronto, and the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award.