Melissa Aldana

Melissa Aldana is a Chilean tenor saxophonist and composer, one of the most acclaimed voices on her instrument in contemporary jazz. Born in 1988 in Santiago, she grew up in a musical family and learned saxophone from her father before studying at Berklee College of Music and settling in New York. In 2013 she became the first woman, the first South American, and the youngest musician to win the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, and she has since recorded for Blue Note Records, including the albums 12 Stars and Echoes of the Inner Prophet. She leads her own working quintet and tours internationally.