Prof. Maruan Sakas

The pianist Maruan Sakas has been a professor at the University of Music and Theatre Munich (HMTM) since 2023. He studied school music (HF classical piano with Prof. Franz Massinger) and jazz piano (with Prof. Leonid Chizhik) at the HMTM. He taught at the HMTM from 2010 to 2023, initially as a lecturer and later as a teacher for special tasks. In 2014 he took over the direction of the HMTM Salsaband. From 2017-2020 he was professor for school practical piano playing at the Dresden University of Music.

In addition to his university teaching activities, Maruan Sakas regularly gives workshops and advanced trainings in his areas of expertise, often in a team-teaching format among other things, as part of the management team of the Bayerischer Landesjugendpopchor (Bavarian State Youth Pop Choir).

Maruan Sakas is equally at home in classical music and jazz, which is also reflected in his broad field of activity as a pianist, arranger and composer apart from teaching. As a sought-after chamber musician, he performs internationally, among others with Harald Rüschenbaum’s Klangland, the Trio TWOplusONE as well as singer Maximilian Höcher. Together with saxophonist Christian Elin, he formed the Elin-Sakas duo, which performed over 70 concerts at renowned festivals and concert series in Germany and abroad for 10 years.

In addition to several national prizes at »Jugend Musiziert« he won the 1st prize for song improvisation at the »Bundeswettbewerb Schulpraktisches Klavierspiel« as well as the jazz promotion prize of the Steinway House Munich. He is an alumnus of the Studienstiftung as well as the music promotion of Live Music Now.