Alex Lopez

Saxophonist, composer, and jazz educator Alex Lopez was born and raised in the city of Stevens Point, WI. While in high school he played in numerous All-State and Honors Jazz and Wind Ensembles and spent one year as lead tenor of the River Cities Big Band of Central Wisconsin. He spent two years studying in Boston at the New England Conservatory where he studied privately with Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, and Allan Chase. When not in school during the summer, Lopez performed in show bands on Carnival Cruise Lines and traveled the Caribbean and Mexican Riviera. Lopez spent the remaining two years of his undergraduate education at the University of Miami. Upon finishing school, Lopez moved to Las Vegas to accept a jazz teaching assistantship at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. There he served as the temporary Jazz Saxophone instructor, taught a big band, an improvisation class, and the contemporary jazz quartet. Early this year Lopez was accepted into the 2007 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program. Currently a masters student at Manhattan School of Music, he has performed at Jordan Hall, Ryles Jazz Club, the Kennedy Center, Arturo Sandoval's Jazz Club, and most recently at the Fort Young Hotel on the island of Dominica with Venezuelan artists Victor Mestas and Gustavo Caruci for the Venezuelan Institute for Culture and Cooperation.