Sascha Ley (born September 13, 1967 in Saarbrücken, Germany) is a Luxembourgian singer, song-writer, composer and actress, best known for her work in the jazz genre, and with the Travelling Light Band.
Ley studied under th Dutch singer Reinette van Zijtveld at the Djam Jazz School in Amsterdam and Kenny Seymour and later studied classical Hindustani vocals with Dhanashree Pandit-Rai in Mumbai, India.[1] She began in the early 1990s working for theatre and film. In 2005 she was awarded as “Studio Hamburg European Shooting Star” for Luxembourg at the Berlin Film Festival Berlinale.[2]
Ley has performed internationally in countries such as Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, England, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, India, and Greece.[2]
She received critical acclaim for her 2007 album, Travelling Light.[1][2] In 2007 she also performed at the Jazz UTSAV Festival in Mumbai and New Delhi, with her band composed of George Letellier on piano, Marc Demuth on acoustic bass, Johannes Müller on soprano / tenor sax, Anne Kaftan on soprano sax and bass clarinet, and Benoît Martiny on drums.[3]
Her recent performances in 2009 have been German writer Thea Dorn's solo/monologue Bombsong (invited to Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen 2010) in theatres in Luxembourg such as the Théâtre d’Esch, opening night on January 7, 2009 and "Besuch bei dem Vater" by Roland Schimmelpfennig at the Théâtre des Capucins. She also played Sascha in Isabelle Costantini's short film Lettres de Julia, and in Jean-Claude Schlim's feature film House Of Boys.[2]
In summer 2009 Sascha Ley's trio Kalima with fellow musicians Laia Genc and Anne Kaftan wins the Audiences Choice Award (Prix du public) at the festival Tremplin Jazz d'Avignon in France. On February 12, 2010 she released the album Kalima with her trio.[4] Ley is one of the leading members of Luxembourg’s performing artists collective, Maskenada.[1][2]