Alex Lopez

I am a very dedicated and serious jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator. I have had the privilege of studying with some of the finest saxophonists in the world. I studied with Jerry Bergonzi and George Garzone at New England Conservatory, Bob Mintzer, Steve Wilson, and Vincent Herring at Manhattan School of Music (MSM), and Bob Sheppard in Las Vegas. I have experience as an instructor teaching saxophone, flute, and clarinet to various levels of students for the past several years. This includes teaching flute and clarinet classes in elementary schools in Manhattan and instructing jazz saxophone undergraduates at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), and private lessons in the cities of Miami, Las Vegas, and New York.

I completed my Bachelors of Studio Music and Jazz at the University of Miami and Masters of Music at the Manhattan School of Music. At Manhattan I focused on both saxophone performance and composition. I composed several Big Band pieces that were performed by the MSM Concert Jazz Band. I both conducted and soloed with the ensemble during the performance of my music. In addition to Big Band, I have also composed two works for orchestra and several chamber pieces for string quartet, rhythm section, and solo saxophone while studying classical composition under Dr. Mark Stambaugh. I have also worked in film scoring and have completed scoring and producing the music for several short films in New York.

While at Manhattan, I also had the opportunity to perform with the Jazz Orchestra and the Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra from 2007-2009. In my first academic year I won a Downbeat Outstanding Performance Award in the jazz soloist category and received an honorable mention in the 2008 Thelonius Monk Jazz Composers Competition. I was recently accepted to attend the Dave Douglas Jazz Composer and Performer Artist Workshop at Carnigie Hall in 2010.

Prior to attending MSM, I was the Jazz Teaching Assistant and Saxophone Instructor at UNLV. Da