Unusual is a word that is often used in Sarah Willis' CV, from her choice of instrument to her career path and her position as first horn player with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. So her founding a »Cuban salsa band with a difference« fits well into the picture: Since 2023, Sarahbanda has been transforming the concerts at international events and festivals into Cuban salsa parties. Together with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra, Sarah Willis launched the popular »Mozart y Mambo« project, combining classical music with her passion for Cuban folk music. To take the Cuban adventure one step further and find out whether a horn can also be part of a proper salsa band, Sarah invited some of the top Cuban musicians to form a joint ensemble with her. Sarahbanda composes and arranges popular pieces based on works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and adapts traditional Cuban works for their instruments.

Sarah Willis, born in the USA and raised in Tokyo, Boston, Moscow and London, studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and with Fergus McWilliam in Berlin. From 1991 to 2001 she was a member of the Staatskapelle Berlin under Daniel Barenboim and others and in 2001 she became the first female horn player at the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle. Sarah Willis has performed with many leading orchestras and has performed as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic.

She teaches at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and organises and presents the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's family concerts.

She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2021 for her services to charity and the promotion of classical music.