Praised by Wynton Marsalis as “an indomitable force for expression, education and absolute excellence,” award-winning multi-instrumentalist and composer Alexa Tarantino plays with sensitivity, sharp wit, and an inventive approach to the music’s deep-rooted vocabulary. Raised in West Hartford, Connecticut, the New York artist has topped Critics Polls for alto saxophone and woodwinds in DownBeat and JazzTimes, headlining at Dizzy’s Club, Birdland, and the Detroit Jazz Festival, as well as Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, International Jazz Festival Bern in Switzerland, and Festival Internacional Cervantino in Mexico. She has appeared at North Sea Jazz Festival, Boston Symphony Hall, Blue Note Jazz Club, The Village Vanguard, and elsewhere as the flutist for Cécile McLorin Salvant’s GHOST SONG ensemble, a previous member of Renee Rosnes’ ARTEMIS quintet, and now a full-time member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Tarantino has issued five solo-led releases to critical acclaim & standout praise from DownBeat and All About Jazz. Her latest album The Roar and the Whisper (2025, Blue Engine Records) features Steven Feifke, Philip Norris and Mark Whitfield Jr., plus special guests Cécile McLorin Salvant and Keita Ogawa. Tarantino has also begun collaborating in the orchestral and wind ensemble worlds. In 2024, she composed Luminance for symphony orchestra as a commission for Ian Carleton Schaefer and the Second Ending Ensemble. That same year, she returned to her undergraduate alma mater, Eastman School of Music, as an artist-in-residence, premiering Jeff Tyzik’s Jazz Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and recording the piece with the Eastman Wind Ensemble. Tarantino is a fierce advocate for jazz education. She has led more than 500 domestic and international masterclasses and has taught extensively as a part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s educational programming. She serves as founder and director of the Cape Ann Jazz Workshop in Massachusetts (established 2014), and has worked countless clinics, guest residencies and student concerts. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Gerry & Franca Mulligan Foundation, having received a scholarship from the charitable organization while attending Juilliard for her master’s degree in Jazz Studies.
