Biography

The Basics

Press Quotes about Lewis

‘the obbligato saxophone of Lewis Banks was most expressive and apposite. The composer has said that, for him, the saxophone represents the wordless voice of Mary, and the superb playing of Mr Banks was a marvellously unifying element in the score…Lewis Banks plays with a fluency and style that marks him out as very much one to watch’

- The Edinburgh Music Review (Edinburgh Royal Choral Union & Michael Bawtree/Richard Blackford

‘a brilliantly gutsy sax solo from Lewis Banks’

— The Scotsman (SCO & James MacMillan)

‘a knockout solo saxophone that stayed on just the right side of being sultry’

— The Arts Desk (SCO & Francois Leleux)

‘stunningly - played by Lewis Banks...the saxophonist’s virtuosity and blinding characterisation of elemental sounds, was deeply - impressive’

— The Herald (solo recital)

‘A Drowned Sorrow (in the Dark Bathroom), which was dominated by the bluesy alto sax of Capperauld’s Royal Conservatoire of Scotland associate Lewis Banks’

— VoxCarnyx (SCO & James MacMillan)

‘gorgeously sultry solos from saxophonist Lewis Banks’

— The Scotsman (SCO & Joseph Swenson)

‘evocative saxophone’

— bachtrack (RSNO & Christian Reif)

‘The Old Castle had hints of Italianate romantic nostalgia – illustrated by a stunning solo on the alto saxophone by Lewis Banks’

- Seen and Heard International (RSNO & Christian Reif)

‘Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suite No 1…notable for being the first orchestral score to use one of those new-fangled saxophone things in 1872, played here by young Scottish virtuoso Lewis Banks’

- VoxCarnyx (SCO & Francois Leleux)

‘the second melodic theme – beautifully played here by Lewis Banks – which almost prefigures the post-Second World War “cool school” of West Coast jazz’

- The Herald (RSNO & John Wilson)



Ensembles Lewis works with

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Royal Scottish National Orchestra

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

BBC Philharmonic

Scottish Opera

Prizes/Awards

Sussex Prize for Woodwind - Royal Overseas League Music Competition (2023)

Worshipful Company of Musicians Postgraduate Award

Worshipful Company of Musicians Masie Lewis Award

PDGYA Award, Making Music UK

ABRSM Scholar

Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Award

Help Musicians UK Fleming Award

Bromsgrove International Musicians Competition Runner Up (2018)

Royal Overseas League Annual Music Competition Wind Finalist (2019, 2021, 2023)

Principals Prize for Excellence, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (2018)

RSNO Concerto Prize

Education

Bmus with Honours of the 1st Class, with 100% final recital degree mark

MMus in Performance, with 100% final recital degree mark

Lewis Banks is a Scottish saxophonist praised by the Herald for his ‘virtuosity and blinding characterisation’. No stranger to diverse and adventurous concert programming, Lewis is rapidly developing a reputation as an exciting soloist who thrives on traversing genre borders.

Winner of the Sussex Prize at the Royal Overseas League Music Competition, Lewis made his London recital debut at the Purcell Room in 2019, and regularly appears as a soloist across the U.K, including recent performances on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Scotland.

As a concerto soloist, Lewis recently appeared as a soloist with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in a performance of the music of John Williams. Also in 2023, Lewis premiered ‘Inscriptions in Granite’ by composer Electra Perivolaris, with the Glasgow Barons. Previously, he gave the U.K premiere of the orchestral version of Santiago Baez’s L’Arlesienne Fantasy Concerto in 2020, and also appeared as concerto soloist with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in 2016, performing Ibert’s Concertino da Camera.

As an orchestral saxophonist, Lewis is a frequent guest with ensembles such as The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Scottish Opera. He recently performed with the RSNO on their autumn residency (2023) in Austria, as well as their winter tour (2024) through the Netherlands and Germany.

Previously, Lewis studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he won most performance prizes, was awarded the highest attainable recital marks in both his final degree recitals and graduated with The Principal’s Prize for Excellence in 2018.

Upcoming projects include a series of recital releases on Eleven Kinds Records, the world premiere of a new saxophone concerto by Jay Capperauld, and the U.K premiere of Courtney Bryan’s Carmen Jazz Suite for soprano saxophone and orchestra. He is also co - director of a brand new saxophone summer school at the RCS in Glasgow and visiting saxophone lecturer at Aberdeen University.