Marco Pignataro

Marco Pignataro is a multi-talented saxophonist, composer, educator, and jazz columnist. A native of Bologna, Italy, Pignataro has performed extensively across Europe and the Americas, sharing stages and clinics with artists such as Eddie Gomez, Oscar Stagnaro, Danilo Pérez, Arturo Sandoval, Ray Vega, Kenwood Dennard, Antonio Sanchez, Paquito D’Rivera, Billy Drummond, Clark Terry, Billy Hart, and Jon Faddis. Pignataro has, until recently, been the director of the Jazz and Caribbean Music Department and Jazz Saxophone chair at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. At the conservatory, he developed the jazz saxophone curriculum, cofounded the bachelor of music in jazz and Caribbean music studies, and founded and directed the CMPR Jazz Faculty Ensemble and the CMPR Jazz Festival. His column, Style & Influence, was regularly featured in the quarterly magazine Jazz Improv. Pignataro was elected as an IAJE Executive Board Member of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE), where he served as the first IAJE Latin America Representative and founder and president of the IAJE Chapter of Puerto Rico, the IAJE Latin American Ensemble, and the IAJE Puerto Rico Big Band. He is a RICO Performing Artist, as well as an endorser for Mauriat saxophones and the Applied Microphone Technology Wireless System.