VIDEO: Student Saxophonist David Milazzo

Alto saxophonist David Milazzo has always wanted to play fast and clean like Charlie Parker.

February 13, 2013

Alto saxophonist David Milazzo has always wanted to play fast and clean like Charlie Parker. Now that he’s at Berklee, he’s also trying his hand at writing and arranging.

From the moment he discovered his father’s alto saxophone on their Bow, New Hampshire kitchen table, Milazzo has been wowing peers, teachers, and audiences alike. He gained placement in the Windham Swing Band at age 11 on alto while simultaneously excelling in clarinet, attaining first chair clarinet in the NHMEA Middle School Festival in 2006. He studied at the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camp for two summers with the likes of Lida and David Baker. In the eighth grade, he teamed up with local piano prodigy Michael Sink. He won the Judge’s Choice Award at the 2009 Berklee High School Jazz Festival, as well as the Special Citation for outstanding Musicianship at the 2009 Clark Terry UNH Jazz Festival. He has received two full-tuition scholarships to Berklee’s Five-Week Summer Performance Program and was part of Terri Lyne Carrington’s Jazz Workshop there. He has also performed at several Boston venues, including Slade’s, Ryles, and the Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival, and with Frank Wilkins, Bobby Tynes, George Garzone, Richie Cole, Cercie Miller, Ted Casher, Greg Abate, and Jeff Harrington. 

Learn more about the Presidential Scholarship.

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