Double Bass
Saulo Martins, born in Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil, started learning double bass at 12 years old at the Grupo Pão de Açúcar Institute (IGPA) in Osasco, guided by Renata Jaffé. At 14, he joined the IGPA Orchestra and went on tours to Argentina, the United States, and France.
He received instruction from Eriko Mestrinari in 2015 and had private lessons with Rafael Rodrigues in 2016 and 2017. Sergio de Oliveira was his teacher for 2018 and 2019.
In November 2017, at 17, Saulo got a scholarship with the renowned São Paulo State Youth Orchestra, working with conductor Cláudio Cruz and other soloists and guest conductors. He won the orchestra's Young Soloists contest in June 2018, granting him the opportunity to play Kossevitsky's Double Bass Concerto in F# with the Orchestra at Sala São Paulo, one of São Paulo's most important venues for musical performance. He became the leader of the orchestra's double bass section in September of the same year, also receiving the Ernani de Almeida Machado award in December.
In the summer of 2019, following a triumphant audition, Saulo received an invitation to join the highly regarded orchestra course Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra in northern Germany. During this enriching experience, he had the privilege of performing under the batons of esteemed conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Manfred Honeck, Ton Koopman, and Michael Sanderling. Additionally, Saulo collaborated with outstanding soloists including Kian Soltani and Emily D'Angelo and had the distinct honor of performing at the renowned Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.
He continued his studies with São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP)'s principal bass player Pedro Gadelha in 2020 and received the Ernani de Almeida Machado award again. With this award, Saulo received financial help that allowed him to pursue his dream of studying abroad.
In 2022, he was again invited to participate in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival where he worked with conductors Omer Meir Wellber, Krzysztof Urbanski, Ludwig Wicki, and Christoph Eschenbach and soloists Sean Shibe, Veronika Eberle, and Steven Isserlis.
Shortly after finishing the festival, Saulo moved to Manchester to start his undergraduate degree at the Royal Northern College of Music with Jiří Hudec. His arrival in the UK was followed by one more successful audition. This time, the Black Lives in Music Recruiting Classical initiative, which allowed him to be part of the extra players list of four professional British orchestras, RPO, RLPO, RNS, and BSO.
In Manchester, Saulo is one of the members of the Bassically Double Bass Quartet. All of the members came from Brazil to study at the RNCM at different times. The group has performed both at RNCM's concert hall and at Bridgewater Hall's Foyer.