Program will be announced from the stage.

This event will run approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission.

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Artists subject to change.

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With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest artists spanning genres and generations, Jazz at Lincoln Center produces thousands of performances, education, and broadcast events each season in its home in New York City (Frederick P. Rose Hall, "The House of Swing") and around the world, for people of all ages. Jazz at Lincoln Center is led by Chairman Clarence Otis, Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, and Executive Director Greg Scholl. Please visit us at jazz.org.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), comprising 15 of the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players today, has been the Jazz at Lincoln Center resident orchestra since 1988 and spends over a third of the year on tour across the world. Featured in all aspects of Jazz at Lincoln Center's programming, this remarkably versatile orchestra performs and leads educational events in New York, across the U.S. and around the globe; in concert halls; dance venues; jazz clubs; public parks; and with symphony orchestras; ballet troupes; local students; and an ever-expanding roster of guest artists. Under Music Director Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performs a vast repertoire, from rare historic compositions to Jazz at Lincoln Center-commissioned works, including compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus, and current and former Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra members Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Ted Nash, Victor Goines, Sherman Irby, Chris Crenshaw, and Carlos Henriquez.

Throughout the last decade, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has performed with many of the world's leading symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic; Cleveland Orchestra; Philadelphia Orchestra; Czech Philharmonic; Berlin Philharmonic; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; London Symphony Orchestra; Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Los Angeles Philharmonic and many others.  Marsalis' three major works for full symphony orchestra and jazz orchestra, All Rise - Symphony No. 1 (1999), Swing Symphony—Symphony No. 3 (2010), and The Jungle—Symphony No. 4 (2016), continue to be the focal point of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra's symphonic collaborations. 

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has also been featured in several education and performance residencies in the last few years, including those in Melbourne, Australia; Sydney, Australia; Chautauqua, New York; Prague, Czech Republic; Vienna, Austria; London, England; São Paulo, Brazil; and many others.

Education is a major part of Jazz at Lincoln Center's mission; its educational activities are coordinated with concert and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra tour programming. These programs, many of which feature Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra members, include the celebrated Jazz for Young People™ family concert series; the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival; the Jazz for Young People™ Curriculum; Let Freedom Swing, educational residencies; workshops; and concerts for students and adults worldwide. Jazz at Lincoln Center educational programs reach over 110,000 students, teachers and general audience members.

Jazz at Lincoln Center, NPR Music and WBGO have partnered to create the next generation of jazz programming on public radio: Jazz Night in America. The series showcases today's vital jazz scene while also underscoring the genre's storied history. Hosted by bassist Christian McBride, the program features hand-picked performances from across the country, woven with the colorful stories of the artists behind them. Jazz Night in America and Jazz at Lincoln Center's radio archive can be found at jazz.org/radio.

In 2015, Jazz at Lincoln Center launched Blue Engine Records (www.jazz.org/blueengine), a new platform to make its vast archive of recorded concerts available to jazz audiences everywhere. The label is dedicated to releasing new studio and live recordings as well as archival recordings from past Jazz at Lincoln Center performances, and its first record—Live in Cuba, recorded on a historic 2010 trip to Havana by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis—was released in October 2015. Big Band Holidays was released in December 2015, The Abyssinian Mass came out in March 2016, The Music of John Lewis was released in March 2017, and the JLCO's Handful of Keys came out in September 2017. Blue Engine's United We Swing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas features the Wynton Marsalis Septet and an array of special guests, with all proceeds going toward Jazz at Lincoln Center's education initiatives. Blue Engine's most recent album releases include 2020's A Swingin' Sesame Street Celebration and 2021's The Democracy Suite featuring the JLCO Septet with Wynton Marsalis.

Wynton Marsalis (Music Director, Trumpet) is the Managing and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1961 to a musical family, Mr. Marsalis was gifted his first trumpet at age six by Al Hirt. By eight, he began playing in the famed Fairview Baptist Church Band led by Danny Barker. Yet it was not until he turned 12 that Marsalis began his formal training on the trumpet. Subsequently, Wynton began performing in bands all over the city, from the New Orleans Philharmonic and New Orleans Youth Orchestra to a funk band called the Creators. His passion for music rapidly escalated. As a young teenager fresh out of high school, Wynton moved to New York City in 1979 to attend The Juilliard School to study classical music. Once there, however, he found that jazz was calling him. His career quickly launched when he traded Juilliard for Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers. By 19, Wynton hit the road with his own band and has been touring the world ever since. From 1981 to date, Wynton has performed 4,777 concerts in 849 distinct cities and 64 countries around the world. Mr. Marsalis made his recording debut as a leader in 1982 and has since recorded 110 jazz and classical albums, four alternative records, and released five DVDs. In total, he has recorded 1,539 songs at the time of this writing. Marsalis is the winner of nine Grammy® Awards, and his oratorio Blood on the Fields was the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He's the only musician to win a Grammy® Award in two categories, jazz and classical, during the same year (1983, 1984).

Mr. Marsalis has solidified himself as an internationally acclaimed musician, composer and bandleader, educator and advocate of American culture. As a composer, his body of work includes over 600 original songs, 11 ballets, four symphonies, eight suites, two chamber pieces, one string quartet, two masses, one violin concerto, and in 2021, a tuba concerto. Included in this rich body of compositions is Sweet Release; Jazz: Six Syncopated Movements; Jump Start and Jazz; Citi Movement/Griot New York; At the Octoroon Balls; In This House, On This Morning; and Big Train. As part of his work at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Wynton has produced and performed countless new collaborative compositions, including the ballet Them Twos, for a 1999 collaboration with the New York City Ballet. That same year, he premiered the monumental work of All Rise, commissioned and performed by the New York Philharmonic along with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Morgan State University Choir. All Rise was performed with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra as part of the remembrance of the centennial anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre in June 2021. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wynton and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra have released seven full-length albums and four singles on Blue Engine Records.

Mr. Marsalis is also a globally respected teacher and spokesman for music education. For Jazz, Wynton led the effort to construct Jazz at Lincoln Center's new home—Frederick P. Rose Hall—the first education, performance, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz, which opened in October 2004. He conducts educational programs for students of all ages and hosts the popular Jazz for Young People™ concerts produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center. In addition to his work at JALC, Wynton is also the Founding Director of Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School. Mr. Marsalis has written and is the host of the video series "Marsalis on Music," the radio series "Making the Music," and a weekly conversation series titled "Skain's Domain." He has written and co-written nine books, including two children's books, Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! and Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits, both illustrated by Paul Rogers. Wynton has received such accolades as having been appointed Messenger of Peace by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2001), The National Medal of Arts (2005), The National Medal of Humanities (2016). In December 2021, Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center were awarded the Key to New York City by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Marsalis has received honorary doctorates from 39 universities and colleges throughout the U.S, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Tulane University in New Orleans. Wynton Marsalis' core beliefs and foundation for living are based on the principles of jazz. He promotes individual creativity (improvisation), collective cooperation (swing), gratitude and good manners (sophistication), and faces adversity with persistent optimism (the blues).

ABDIAS ARMENTEROS

Abdias Armenteros (Tenor and Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet) is a native of Miami, Florida, where he attended New World School of the Arts High School. He began to play the saxophone at the age of eight and began to play jazz in the ninth grade. After getting into New World, he was able to travel to places like New York City to compete in events like Essentially Ellington with the jazz band (which the school won in 2016), and Kagoshima, Japan, representing the city of Miami and the United States by being the only non-Asian group to perform in the Kagoshima Asian Arts Youth Festival. He has also done various summer programs such as the Brubeck. Summer Jazz Colony and the Summer Jazz Academy with Jazz at Lincoln Center. Abdias completed his master's and undergraduate degrees at Juilliard. Since being in New York, he has shared the bandstand with world-renowned artists like Wynton Marsalis, Ben Vereen, Aloe Blacc, Victor Lewis, Arlo Parks, and performs regularly at different clubs and venues in the city with other well-known musicians in the city while continuing his studies at school. He is a full-time member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and New Jazz Underground. Abdias is a firm believer that music is healing, and we're living in a time where we need healing the most.

OBED CALVAIRE

Obed Calvaire (Drums, JLCO), a native of Miami and of Haitian descent, is a graduate with both a
master's and bachelor's degree of music from one of America's premiere private music conservatories in the nation, Manhattan School of Music. He received his bachelor's degree in 2003, completing the undergraduate degree requirements in three years and receiving his master's in 2005. Calvaire has performed and recorded with artists such as
Wynton Marsalis, Seal, Eddie Palmieri, Vanessa Williams, Richard Bona, SFJazz Collective, David Foster, Mary J. Blige, Stefon Harris, The Clayton Brothers Quintet, Mike Stern, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Peter Cincotti, Monty Alexander, Music Soulchild, Nellie McKay, Yellow Jackets, Joshua Redman, Steve Turre, and Lizz Wright. He has also performed with large ensembles such as the Village Vanguard Orchestra, Metropole Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, Maria Schneider, Roy Hargrove big band, and the Bob Mintzer Big Band. Currently, Obed Calvaire can be found playing with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Dave Holland, Sean Jones, Yosvany Terry, among others.

CHRIS CRENSHAW

Chris Crenshaw (Trombone, JLCO) was born in Thomson, Georgia on December 20, 1982. Since birth, he has been driven by and surrounded by music. Playing piano since age three, his love for piano led to his first gig with Echoes of Joy, his father Casper's gospel quartet group. He started playing the trombone at 11, eventually studying with Steve Pruitt, Dr. Douglas Farwell, and Wycliffe Gordon. He attended Thomson High School, Valdosta State University, and the Juilliard School earning a master's degree in jazz studies in 2007. In 2006 after a year at Juilliard, Crenshaw joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and has contributed to the JLCO as a trombonist, composer, arranger, transcriber, and conductor. He has appeared as a sideman on fellow JLCO trumpeter Marcus Printup's Ballads All Night. In 2012 he composed God's Trombones, a spiritually focused work which was premiered by the orchestra at Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2017, Crenshaw was commissioned to write an original suite called "The Fifties: A Prism" based on jazz in the 1950s. Along with "The Fifties...," he also has an album with his own group The Georgia Horns entitled "Live at Dizzy's Club."

VINCENT GARDNER

Vincent Gardner (Trombone, JLCO) was born in Chicago in 1972 and was raised in Hampton, Virginia. After singing, playing piano, violin, saxophone, and French horn at an early age, he decided on the trombone at age 12. He attended Florida A&M University and the University of North Florida. He soon caught the ear of Mercer Ellington, who hired Gardner for his first professional job. He moved to Brooklyn, New York after graduating from college, completed a world tour with Lauryn Hill in 2000, and then joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Gardner has served as an Instructor at The Juilliard School, as a Visiting Instructor at Florida State University and Michigan State University, and as an Adjunct Instructor at The New School. He is currently the Director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra, and he has contributed many arrangements to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and other ensembles. In 2009 he was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to write The Jesse B. Semple Suite, a 60-minute suite inspired by the short stories of Langston Hughes. In addition, Gardner is a popular instructor at Jazz at Lincoln Center's ongoing jazz education program, Swing University, teaching courses on bebop and more. Gardner is featured on a number of notable recordings and has recorded five CDs as a leader for Steeplechase Records. He has performed with The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Bobby McFerrin, Harry Connick, Jr., The Saturday Night Live Band, Chaka Khan, A Tribe Called Quest, and many others. Gardner was chosen as the #1 Rising Star Trombonist in the 2014 DownBeat Critics Poll. Vincent Gardner is the Artistic Director of Jazz Houston.

CARLOS HENRIQUEZ

Carlos Henriquez (Bass, JLCO) was born in 1979 in the Bronx, New York. He studied music at a young age, played guitar through junior high school, and took up the bass while enrolled in The Juilliard School's Music Advancement Program. He entered LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts and Performing Arts and was involved with the LaGuardia Concert Jazz Ensemble which went on to win first place in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival in 1996. In 1998, swiftly after high school, Henriquez joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, touring the world and featured on more than 25 albums. Henriquez has performed with artists including Chucho Valdés, Paco De Lucía, Tito Puente, the Marsalis Family, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, Marc Anthony, and many others. He has been a member of the music faculty at Northwestern University School of Music since 2008 and was music director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra's cultural exchange with the Cuban Institute of Music with Chucho Valdés in 2010. His debut album as a bandleader, The Bronx Pyramid, came out in September 2015 on Jazz at Lincoln Center's Blue Engine Records and his most recent album, The South Bronx Story, was nominated for a Grammy®.

SHERMAN IRBY

Sherman Irby (Alto and Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet, JLCO) was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Sherman began playing music at the age of 12, almost immediately recognizing that it was his life's calling. Upon graduating high school—during which he had the opportunity to play and record with Gospel immortal James Cleveland—Sherman attended Clark Atlanta University, graduating with a B.A. in Music Education. He joined Atlanta-based piano legend Johnny O'Neal's quintet in 1991. After moving to New York in 1994, Sherman quickly connected with the fertile and vital scene at Smalls, where he was a regular until 1997. Here Sherman caught the attention of Blue Note Records, for which he recorded his first two albums, Full Circle and Big Mama's Biscuits, released in 1996 and 1998 respectively. During the Smalls period, Sherman also toured the U.S. and the Caribbean with the Boys Choir of Harlem in 1995; was a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra from 1995 to 1997 and then rejoined again; recorded and toured with Marcus Roberts and participated in the incomparable Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead Program during those same years; and began his four year stint with Roy Hargrove in 1997. After departing Roy Hargrove's ensemble, Sherman shifted his primary focus to his own group. Although this was his primary commitment, Irby took the opportunity to join the final ensemble of the peerless Elvin Jones in 2004, and after Elvin's passing, joined Papo Vazquez's Pirates Troubadours. From 2003-2011, Sherman was the regional director for JazzMasters Workshop, a mentoring program for young children. He has served as an Artist-in-Residence for Jazz Camp West, and an instructor for the Monterey Jazz Festival Band Camp. He is also a former board member for CubaNOLA Collective. Recognizing the shift in economics of the record industry, Sherman left Blue Note to form Black Warrior Records, releasing Black Warrior, Faith, Organ Starter, Live at The Otto Club, Cerulean Canvas and Andy Farber's, This Could Be the Start of Something Big. Sherman, along with most members of the JLCO, has arranged much of the vast library of music that they have performed over the past 16 years. He has also been commissioned to compose new works, including Twilight Sounds, his Dante-inspired ballet, Inferno and Musings of Cosmic Stuff. Even with the orchestra's busy schedule, Sherman was a regular member of the McCoy Tyner Quartet, and continues to perform with his own group, Momentum.

RYAN KISOR

Ryan Kisor (Trumpet, JLCO) was born on April 12, 1973, in Sioux City, Iowa, and began playing trumpet at age four. In 1990, he won first prize at the Thelonious Monk Institute's first annual Louis Armstrong Trumpet Competition. Kisor enrolled in Manhattan School of Music in 1991 where he studied with trumpeter Lew Soloff. He has performed and/or recorded with the Mingus Big Band, the Gil Evans Orchestra, Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan and Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Philip Morris Jazz All-Stars, and others. In addition to being an active sideman, Kisor has recorded several albums as a leader, including Battle Cry (1997), The Usual Suspects (1998), and Point of Arrival (2000). He has been a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra since 1994.

CHRIS LEWIS

Chris Lewis (Tenor and Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet) has been a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis since 2025. Lewis has performed with luminaries including Herbie Hancock, Eric Reed, Terell Stafford, Ben Wolfe, Jegg "Tain" Watts, and Michael Bublé, and is regularly called upon by his contemporaries Julius Rodriguez, Aaron Diehl & Sean Mason. He has appeared with many of today's premiere large ensembles, including the Maria Schneider Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, the Count Basie Orchestra, John Beasley's MONK'estra, and The Gil Evans Project. Additionally, Lewis is often featured in Broadway productions and televised performances, including Just in Time and The Tony Awards. A dedicated educator, Lewis teaches students of all ages. He is on faculty with Jazz at Lincoln Center's Summer Jazz Academy and the Litchfield Jazz Camp, offering his expertise in saxophone, improvisation, and ensemble performance. Lewis continues to help shape the next generation of jazz artists as a guest artist, clinician, adjudicator, and private instructor with students worldwide. Chris Lewis holds a bachelor's of music in jazz studies from Temple University and a master's of music in jazz studies from the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz. He is proud to be a Vandoren Artist.

DION TUCKER

Dion Tucker is an accomplished trombonist, composer, and music educator with an oeuvre that defies genre. Boston-born and Miami-bred, Dion moved to New York in 1998 to study at The New School under the tutelage of pioneering trombonists Benny Powell and Steve Turre, among others. Throughout his career, Dion has shared the stage with many jazz, soul and gospel greats including The Duke Ellington Orchestra, where he played lead trombone for 12 years; Ray Charles, The Count Basie Band, Aretha Franklin, The Maria Schneider Orchestra, John Hendricks, The Lionel Hampton Band, Frank Foster’s Loud Minority, Clark Terry & the Young Titans of Jazz, Christian McBride, Mike Longo, The Rufus Reid Big Band, and The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, where he is currently the lead trombonist. Dion has been a member of the Harry Connick Jr. Band since 2007. He was the trombonist on the daytime Emmy Award winning talk show HARRY. As an educator, Dion has taught in over 20 New York City public schools through the Jazz for Young People program and is currently an adjunct faculty member at New York University.

PAUL NEDZELA

Paul Nedezela (Baritone and Soprano Saxophones, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, JLCO) was born and raised in New York City.  He joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in 2014 and has also played with many renowned artists and ensembles, including (in alphabetical order) Ruben Blades, Bill Charlap, Chick Corea, Paquito D'Rivera, Kenny Garrett, Benny Golson, Branford Marsalis, Christian McBride, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Wayne Shorter, Frank Sinatra Jr., and The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Paul released his debut album, INTRODUCING PAUL NEDZELA, in 2019.  He has performed in Twyla Tharp's Broadway show, Come Fly Away, as well as in major festivals around the world, including but not limited to, The Monterey Jazz Festival, The Newport Jazz Festival, The Detroit Jazz Festival, The Banff Music Festival, The International Montreal Jazz Festival, The iLove Jazz Festival in Brazil, The Valencia Jazz Festival in Spain, The Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, and The American Festival of the Arts in Doha, Qatar. While still pursuing music, Paul graduated with honors in 2006 from McGill University in Montreal with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics. A recipient of the Samuel L. Jackson scholarship award, he continued his musical education at The Juilliard School and graduated with a Master of Music degree in 2008.

DAN NIMMER

Dan Nimmer (Piano, JLCO) was born in 1982 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a young man, Nimmer's family inherited a piano and he started playing by ear. He studied classical piano and eventually became interested in jazz. At the same time, he began playing gigs around Milwaukee. Upon graduation from high school, Nimmer left Milwaukee to study music at Northern Illinois University. It didn't take him long to become one of Chicago's busiest piano players. Working a lot in the Chicago scene, Nimmer decided to leave school and make the big move to New York City where he immediately emerged in the New York scene. In 2005, a year after moving to New York City, he became a member of both the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Quintet. Nimmer has performed and recorded with Jimmy Cobb, Norah Jones, Willie Nelson, Renée Fleming, Houston Person, Fareed Haque, George Benson, Lewis Nash, and many more. He has released six of his own trio albums on the Venus label (Japan).

MARCUS PRINTUP

Marcus Printup (Trumpet, JLCO) was born and raised in Conyers, Georgia. His first musical experiences were hearing the sanctified and soulful Gospel music his parents (Ann and Bobby), grandparents (J.C.) and older sister (Angela) sang in church. While attending the University of North Florida on a music scholarship, he won the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Trumpet competition. In 1991, Printup's life changed when he met his mentor, the great pianist Marcus Roberts, who introduced him to Wynton Marsalis. He subsequently joined Roberts as his road manager/understudy for two years. 1993 was a banner year for Printup. He performed for the first time with Marsalis in the latter collaboration with the New York City Ballet, "Jazz In Six Syncopated Movements" which led to Printup's induction into the then Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Also during this time, Printup was noticed by jazz legend, Betty Carter. Ms. Carter invited Printup to be in her inaugural and prestigious "Betty Carter Jazz Ahead" group, performing in a series of concerts at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Printup has performed and/or recorded with Marcus Roberts, Betty Carter, Dianne Reeves, Guru, Madeline Peyroux, Ted Nash, Dianne Schuur, Cyrus Chestnut, and Wycliffe Gordon, among many others. He has recorded over 15 records as a leader, including his most recent "Gentle Rain" (2020) featuring his wife, Riza Printup, on the Harp. He made a big screen appearance in the 1999 movie Playing by Heart and recorded on the film's soundtrack. Education is extremely important to Printup, as he is an in-demand clinician teaching middle schools, high schools, and colleges across the U.S. and abroad. He also holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Music at Montclair State University. August 22nd has been declared "Marcus Printup Day" in his hometown of Conyers, Georgia.

MIKE RODRIGUEZ

Grammy®  winner Mike Rodriguez (Trumpet, JLCO) was born in Queens, New York. Michael was inspired to pursue music as a career by his father, drummer Roberto Rodriguez. Michael has performed and toured with Quincy Jones, Joe Lovano, Jessica Simpson, Chico O'Farrill Orchestra, Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, among others, and is a member of Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. Michael has also performed and traveled with Jon Faddis and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Kenny Barron's Quintet, Harry Conick Jr., Eddie Palmieri Septet, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and the Spanish Heart Band, to name a few. Michael recorded on Charlie Haden's Grammy® winning album,¨Land of the Sun," recorded on Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra's latest album "Not in Our Name" and is featured on "America the Beautiful." Michael is a member of the Gonzalo Rubalcaba quintet and recorded "Avatar" on the Blue Note label. In 2019, Michael joined Chick Corea's Spanish Heart Band and won a Grammy® for "Antidote" for Best Latin Jazz in 2020. He is currently a member of the internationally Acclaimed group SFJazz Collective. Michael is currently on the faculty at NYU and Juilliard and travels the globe as a clinician.

ALEXA TARANTINO

Alexa Tarantino (Alto and Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet, Piccolo, JLCO) has been triple-nominated as a Rising Star Alto Saxophonist by Downbeat Magazine's Critics' Poll from 2020-2022, was named one of the Top 5 Alto Saxophonists of 2019 by the JazzTimes Critics' Poll, and was one of 100 alumni to receive the Centennial Award from the Eastman School of Music (2022). Her radiant spirit and artistry uplifts and inspires her audiences one performance at a time. Alexa tours worldwide with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Wynton Marsalis Septet, Cecile McLorin Salvant and the Alexa Tarantino Quartet. Her records (Firefly, Clarity, Winds of Change) and compositions have consistently topped jazz radio charts, and her discography includes 25+ released recordings as a leader and/or side woman. Tarantino is in demand internationally as an energetic and impactful clinician, mentor, and coach and also represents JALC as a visiting educator for various programs with students of all ages and levels. Alexa Tarantino is a Vandoren Artist, a Yamaha Performing Artist, & endorses BAM Instrument Cases.