Grace Juliet Macdonald

Grace Juliet Macdonald (1996*) is a British Saxophonist and curator from the island of Jersey. As a musician she is interested in developing a musical vocabulary within many genres in order to expand the possibilities of classical and concert performance. She actively creates and performs music within different projects and constellations, and collaborates regularly with composers, having premiered 34 new works for her instrument to date.

Her musical interests are best encapsulated by her multi award-winning project Knowing the Oak Tree, a hybrid electro-acoustic duo with Phoenix Rousiamanis, dedicated to mixing hyperpop, folk lyricism and contemporary classical high drama. Knowing the Oak Tree’s debut self-titled album will be released in August 2024. 

In 2020 Grace relocated to Zürich, Switzerland and founded the project based saxophone + electronics group Z Ensemble. As well as performing, she managed the group’s tours to Switzerland, Spain and Budapest in 2022 and 2023. Grace is also a member of Ensemble Cataclysm, who debuted at the Currents Festival in March 2024. She also performs alongside Swiss indie-rock artist Dennis Kiss and was featured on his 2023 album Norddeich Mole.

Grace is a member of the Verein Solo am Mittag. Since 2022, she has been the organiser and curator for the monthly concert series Surprise am Mittag, dedicated to original music of any genre.

Grace has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Royal Northern College of Music and a Master of Music Pedagogy (saxophone) degree from the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. She was awarded the ZHdK Förderpreis, the Fewkes Prize and a scholarship from the Elsy Meyer foundation. Grace is currently a participant on the ‘Z-Kubator What’s next_Compass’ programme.

Púca Music Video

Knowing the Oak Tree