Melissa Aldana, tenor saxophone

Chilean-born Melissa Aldana is a Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer whose playing has “an austere beauty,” with Aldana “as persuasive with long-lined phrases as with a flurry of fast-flying notes.” (Chicago Tribune) Aldana became the first female and first South American to win the coveted Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition in 2013, setting the stage for her visionary work as a bandleader. She released acclaimed albums with Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio and the all-star jazz collective ARTEMIS, of which she is a founding member. Aldana, who released the album 12 Stars in March 2022, will perform a program of jazz standards with members of the Madison Jazz Collective. A CVPA Cultural Connections Artist-in-Residence Event.