Alex Pinto

Alex Pinto is originally from Bethesda MD. He began playing guitar at the age of six while living in Poland. He moved back to Bethesda at the age of 9 and continued studying guitar at the Washington Conservatory of Music with Fred Wilchek. Alex moved again to Moscow, Russia, and studied with Russian greats Alexie Kuznietsov and Alexander Vinitsky at the Gneissen Academy of Music. Alex returned to Bethesda for high school, studying with Donato Soviero. He garnered county and statewide recognition for his musical talents. He has played with many DC locals such as the Redd brothers, Paul Carr, and Jason Marshall and has had the distinct honor of studying with jazz legend Keter Betts. Alex has also played and studied with such musicians as Dave Douglas, George Garzone, James Genus, Ben Monder, Adam Benjamin, Rez Abbasi, Charlie Haden and many musicians in Montreal, including Joel Miller, Remi Bolduc, Andre White and the Doxas brothers. While in Montreal, Alex was a semi-finalist and finalist in the Jazz En Rafale Effendi Jazz Talent search. Alex has also been named a finalist in the 2008 ASCAP young jazz composers competition and won 3rd prize at the 2008 Gibson Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition, being hailed as the most original guitarist at the competition by the jury. He graduated from the McGill jazz program('07) and is attending CalArts pursuing an MFA in jazz guitar under the direction of Larry Koonse and maestro Aashish Khan.