Saxophonist/Composer/Arranger/Educator Mike Tomaro, is the Jazz Studies Program Director at the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. He earned his BSME degree from Duquesne and his MA in saxophone performance from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Prior to his appointment at Duquesne, he lived in the Washington, D.C. area for seventeen years as a member of the Army Blues Jazz Ensemble, where he served as its Enlisted Musical Director. He composed and/or arranged much of that group's repertoire and was featured as a soloist on several of the group’s albums and CDs. Mike is a Yamaha Performing Artist and endorses Vandoren reeds, mouthpieces and ligatures exclusively.
As a performer, Mike is active on both local and national levels. He is the lead alto player of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra and Little Big Band, where he composes and arranges most of the material those groups perform. In 2015, the band released its first CD, “Joyful Jazz,” a holiday album, on the MCG Jazz label, containing 11 of his arrangements. It has garnered rave reviews including a four-star rating in Downbeat magazine and was selected as one of the top seven holiday albums of 2015 by the Wall Street Journal.
Mike has four nationally-released recordings under his own name that showcase his talents as both performer and composer/arranger and is anticipating the release of his newest big band CD, "4 Seasons," that will be distributed by the MCG Jazz label. Additionally, he has been featured on many other CDs as performer and/or arranger, most notably on Nancy Wilson’s last two Grammy Award winning releases, “Turned To Blue” and “RSVP,” the Bob Mintzer Big Band’s Grammy nominated release, “For The Moment,” Ann Hampton Callaway’s “The Hope Of Christmas,” New York Voices’, “A Day Like This,” Sheryl Bailey’s “A New Promise” and the 21st Century Swing Band’s “Pittsburgh Jazz Legacy,” all on the MCG Jazz label.
Mike’s music has been performed by many jazz greats as well as high schools and universities around the world. Over two hundred of his compositions and arrangements have been published by Doug Beach Music and Hal Leonard Publications. In 2009, Mike scored all the music for MCG/Opera Theater of Pittsburgh’s production of Duke Ellington’s musical “Beggar’s Holiday.” In 2018, he also compiled, transcribed, reorchestrated and arranged all the music for large jazz ensemble for a 90-minute show featuring actor Keith David in his one man show, “Joe Williams: Here’s To Life.”
Additionally, Mike has co-authored the textbook “Instrumental Jazz Arranging: A Comprehensive and Practical Guide” (Hal Leonard Publications), with his long-time mentor, Dr. John Wilson, who was Director of Jazz Studies at Duquesne University from 1972-1996.
Mike is affiliated with ASCAP, NARAS, JEN and NAfME and is in great demand both nationally and internationally as a guest soloist, adjudicator, and clinician. For more information on his activities, visit his website at www.miketomaro.com.
Saturday, January 7, 2023
4:00 PM – 4:50 PM US EST