Biography

Jorge Gómez Josa (Madrid, 07/04/2000) is a saxophone player and improviser based in Basel. He grew up in the town of Tres Cantos, very close to the capital, and started playing saxophone at the age of 7, in a music school right next to his house. He immediately fell in love with the instrument when he was given the chance to try it in a workshop, and began taking lessons. At age 15, he decided to pursue more advanced studies in saxophone, and auditioned for the "Grado Medio Profesional de Música" in Madrid, at the conservatory "CPM Teresa Berganza". He completed his degree in the year 2021, after having studied, apart from saxophone, subjects like ensemble and chamber music playing, composition and jazz performance, and many succesful concerts, highlighting the wind band concerts given at the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid every year. In the meantime, he had started the Bachelor in Biology at the "Universidad Autónoma de Madrid", although he quit his studies in biology to focus solely in music.

After finishing his studies in Spain, Jorge started the bachelor in music at "Conservatorium Maastricht", under the mentoring of Prof. Jean Pierre Cnoops, and he also often received coaching by Eva van Grinsven in the group activites. During his 4 years in Maastricht, Jorge refined his technique and sound, as well as participated in many projects and learned about various topics such as conducting, history of music, harmony or improvisation. During his second year of studies, he participated in winning project of the Award of Innovation in Music (AIM) in Maastricht, with composer Juliette Romboti and her work "Ad Astra" (webpage, video). He would later participate as well in her final project "On Stillness" at the Bonnefanten Museum. That same year, he participated in a performance at the Bureau Europa, as part of a collaboration with composer Jien Chir, which connected music and painting. The following year of studies, he played as a soloist with the "Limburgs Jeugd Symphony Orchestra" in the piece "Paintings at an exhibition" at Sint Janskerk in Maastricht, in January 2023 (video). Shortly after, he began collaborating with "Nefelibata New Music Collective" (youtube), a collective of musicians trying to bring classical music together with contemporary music as a non profit and charity organisation, founded by composer Hon Ning Cheung. He has since collaborated in every project with them until now, highlighting the projects of the thread "Nomads", and the collaboration with swiss based "Echolume Ensemble" in the concert "Weg - Still Alive", performing Ethan Blackburn's "Disquiet". Now a stable member of the collective, Jorge is also an organiser of the collective, curating and preparing projects together with his colleagues.

A big part of the work during his studies consisted in collaborating with composers and exploring the genre of contemporary music, with collaborations with composers like Hon Ning Cheung, Ethan Blackburn, Juliette Romboti, Asja Kadic or Nikolas Agrafiotis. Furthermore, in the last year of his studies he got in contact with free improvisation practices through different experiences. The most crucial one in his development as an improviser was playing in the first professional project of "European Music Collective" (EMC), a contemporary music and free improvisation collective, in the festival for contemporary music and improvisation "ContemPLAY" in Vilnus in February 2025. He was invited to play by Vykintas Baltakas in the sinfonietta of the festival, premiering works by Tiag Yi Tan, Mario Calzada and Beata Juchnevic, and used the opportunity to get to know the improvisation collective. He was invited to play with them in their concert, starting a relation that would bring him to touring with them in October of the same year, playing in four different cities and collaborating with improviser Bart Maris. Nowadays, he keeps participating in the collective as an active member, searching for new opportunities and projects, and being invited to the annual residency in Sidrabini, Latvia, in the summer of 2026.

Apart from contemporary and classical music, Jorge is a flexible performer that has participated in very different projects. It's worth mentioning his participation in the project "Buurt Opera Malpertuis" with Opera Zuid, collaborating with people with less resources and elderly people from the neighbourhood, creating an environment of inclusion and participation. He has, as well, gotten close to jazz performers, learning more about the genre and collaborating in some projects, highlighting the project "Woodwinds & Organ" by saxophonist Finn Grah and organist and pianist Alexandra Sandulescu. The first performance at Sint Servaas Basiliek in May 2025 granted them the opportunity of performing in the biggest music festival of Maastricht, "Festival Musica Sacra". This performance was on September 20th 2025 in the main hall of Theater aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht.

After all these experiences, Jorge has become a super flexible, commited and passionate performer that strives for excellence in each project. His background, with very diverse activities, gives him a broad spectrum of possibilities to exploit in his projects and performances. On top of this, he has become a socially conscious artist, who reflects on the challenges of society from a human point of view, and who tries to convey political, social and even spiritual content in his work.