Tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana is from Santiago, Chile, where she grew up as the daughter of a professional saxophone player.
She started playing at age six, met the Panamanian jazz pianist Danilo Perez when she was 18, and later studied at Berklee College of Music. It almost seems like a jazz fairy tale: she was in New York City studying with the legendary George Coleman in 2009 and was the first woman to win the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition for saxophone in 2013. She was 26.
The pressure on Aldana must have been serious, but her response has been to work hard, challenge herself by playing with superb musicians, and measure her own playing against the best: heroes such as Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter.

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