Tristan De Borba is a versatile musician who maintains an active career as a saxophonist, conductor, researcher, and teacher.

As a saxophonist Tristan has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and pedagogue across Canada. Tristan’s most recent video recording with pianist Mary Castello of Fernande Decruck’s Sonata and William Grant Still’s Romance is now available on Youtube! Tristan has a strong interest in the music of our time. His recording of Derek Charke’s Wired and Wound alongside pianist Simon Docking can be found on the ECMA nominated recording “Live Wired” (Centrediscs, 2015). Tristan also appears as soprano saxophone soloist on the album “In the Wide Awe of Wisdom” featuring the choral music of Paul Halley (Pelagos, 2017). As an orchestral musician, Tristan has performed with Symphony Nova Scotia presenting works by Bernstein, Gershwin, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Ravel under the baton of conductor Bernhard Gueller.

With fellow saxophonist Nicole Strum, the Strum-De Borba Duo has performed concerts across the Canadian Maritime provinces and at the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Region 10 conference in London, Ontario and Region 9 conference in Calgary, Alberta (online). They recently presented video performances of Christian Lauba’s Ars and Tebogo Monnakgotla’s Crossing Borders at the 2021 Scotia Festival of Music.  

Tristan is a passionate music educator. He is Assistant Professor of Music at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia where he leads a thriving saxophone class, conducts the Symphonic Band and String Orchestra and teaches courses in musicianship. Tristan has appeared as a saxophone and conducting clinician across the country including visits to the University of Lethbridge, Mount Allison University, University of Prince Edward Island, and Memorial University.

Tristan De Borba has a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree from the University of Toronto. His dissertation entitled “Extended Techniques in Jorge Peixinho’s (1940-1995) Three Late Pieces for Saxophone: Sax-Blue (1982/84), Passage Intérieur (1989), and Fantasia-Impromptu (1990)” establishes Peixinho’s saxophone music as pivotal in the history and development of extended techniques for the instrument. He also earned a Master of Music degree from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Music Performance from the University of Toronto. His principal saxophone teachers were Wallace Halladay and Julia Nolan.

Tristan plays on Selmer Paris saxophones and mouthpieces. When taking a break from a busy performing and teaching career, Tristan can be found alongside his wife Sara and their dogs Izzie and Lua exploring beautiful Nova Scotia.