Lucia Sarmiento, a Peruvian-born saxophonist, will perform at the Twin Cities Jazz Fest on Saturday. Her music is a mix of all the different lives she’s lived, and every place she’s been. Sarmiento was born and raised in Lima, Peru, where she developed a passion for Peruvian and Afro-Peruvian sounds.

Minneapolis Music Scene

Sarmiento moved to Minnesota in 2013 to attend St. Paul’s McNally Smith College of Music. Although she moved to Chicago a year and a half ago, Sarmiento considers Minneapolis to have raised her musically. She learned new forms and ways of feeling music from the strong funk and R&B presence in the city.

Sarmiento has spent the majority of her career performing in the Twin Cities, with some notable exceptions. She toured with Grammy-winning Latino artists Pitbull and Karol G in recent years. In February 2025, Sarmiento released her first album, ‘Escape.’ She started working on the album in 2020, when she got her first microphone and interface, and began to write songs on her computer.

Upcoming Performance

Sarmiento’s 2 p.m. show in Mears Park on Saturday will be her first time playing the Twin Cities Jazz Fest mainstage under her own name. It will also be the first show that she plays on alto saxophone; Sarmiento has been relearning all her songs on the smaller instrument following a shoulder injury that made it difficult to play tenor saxophone.

Original reporting: Sahan Journal — read the source article.