Boston, Massachusetts
Marco Pignataro is an Italian multi-talented saxophone player, composer, educator and program director based in Boston. Together with Danilo Perez, Marco currently leads the Berklee Global Jazz Institute (BGJI), the world premiere jazz center of musical creativity at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Marco Pignataro was the director and founder of the Jazz and Caribbean Music Department and was the chair of the Jazz Saxophone Department at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico.
Marco has performed extensively across Europe and the Americas in jazz festivals and international music venues, sharing stages and clinics with artists such as Joe Lovano, Eddie Gomez, JoAnne Brakeen, Rufus Reid, John Patitucci, Danilo Perez, Ben Street, Antonio Sanchez, Billy Drummond, Terri Lyne Carrington, Clark Terry, Billy Hart, and Jon Faddis, among others. His debut CD, Sofia's Heart, was produced by jazz legend Eddie Gomez. His 2018 release "Almas Antiguas "(Zoho Music) was selected as one of the best albums of 2019 by Downbeat, which also assigned it a 4/1/2 stars review; "Almas Antiguas" was also featured on CNN en Español and Jazz@Linclon Center. His song 'Letter to My Son" was finalist in the 2019 International Songwriting Competition. As a side man, Marco also appears in the critically acclaimed CD Per Sempre (BFM Jazz) by the Eddie Gomez Quintet and several others albums.
Marco's own music is soulful evocative and powerful, blending modern jazz with shades of Mediterranean, folk & Latin influences. Marco's latest projects includes "Passione-Canto Italiano" feat. John Patitucci, Alan Pasqua, Adam Cruz and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and two 2022 releases for Zoho Music: Marco Pignataro's Dream Alliance "Awakening" featuring Kenny Werner, Nadia Washington and Devon Gates (April 2022) and "Chant for Our Planet" feat. Joe Lovano, Terry Lyne Carrington and John Patitucci, among others (Oct 2022).
As a dedicated music educator, Marco also participated as Board Member of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE), as the President and founder of the IAJE Chapter of Puerto Rico, and as a faculty in the University of Veracruz International Summer Jazz Seminars. Marco's column, Style & Influence, was regularly featured in the quarterly magazine Jazz Improv.
Pignataro is a D'addario Woodwind performing artist, and endorser for Mauriat & Lupifaro saxophones and for the Applied Microphone Technology.
Saturday, January 7, 2023
11:00 AM – 11:50 AM US EST