Dave Pietro

Professor Dave Pietro has been on the New York music scene since 1987. A native of Southboro, Massachusetts, his talents as a saxophonist, doubler, composer, and educator have made him an in-demand musician who has performed at jazz clubs, jazz festivals, schools and concert halls in more than thirty countries throughout the world.

Dave is a member of the Grammy Award-winning Maria Schneider Orchestra and the Grammy nominated groups - the Gil Evans Project and Darcy James Argue's Secret Society.  From 1994-2016 he played lead alto saxophone and recorded seven albums with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. He has also performed, and/or recorded with the bands of Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, Maynard Ferguson, The Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, John Fedchock, Mike Holober, and Pete McGuinness among others. Pietro has performed with many other well-known musicians such as Louis Bellson, Ray Charles, Harry Connick Jr., Liza Minnelli, and John Pizzarelli.  He has also studied East Indian music and performed with various groups led by Indian tablist Sandip Burman. 

Professor Pietro has released ten albums as a leader with many of the top musicians in jazz including Rez Abbasi, Helio Alves, Jay Anderson, David Berkman, Brian Blade, Johnathan Blake, Adam Cruz, Duduka DaFonseca, Billy Drummond, Dave Holland, Pete McCann, Michael Rodriguez, Alex Sipiagin, Bill Stewart, Gary Versace, Johannes Weidenmueller, Scott Wendholt and Kenny Werner. His latest album, The Talisman (Steeplechase-2024), was described by jazz critic Ken Dryden as “a masterful album that is not only fueled by its lush harmony, but by its infectious rhythmic undercurrent.” Thomas Conrad of Stereophile said "Pietro has emerged as a leader of importance" in his review of Hypersphere (ArtistShare-2020). Other releases receiving critical acclaim include New Road: Iowa Memoirs (ArtistShare-2017), Embrace: Impressions of Brazil (A Records-2004), and Standard Wonder: The Music of Stevie Wonder (A-Records), which was voted one of the top 10 jazz CD’s of 2001 by Bob Blumenthal of the Boston Globe and Bill Milkowski of Jazz Times. Dave also co-led an international quartet "The New York-Tokyo Connection" (NYTC) with pianist Jonathan Katz. 

Dave was selected as a semi-finalist for the first two Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Saxophone Competitions (1991 & 1996) and was a finalist in the 1995 JAZZIZ Magazine "Woodwinds on Fire" talent search. In 1996 he was the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2005 and 2007 he received grants from Chamber Music America’s New Works Programs to compose and perform his new extended work “The Chakra Suite” (2008-Challenge) which was voted one of the top CD's of 2008 by All About Jazz .

Pietro received a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from North Texas State University where he toured and recorded four albums with the school's One O'Clock Lab Band. He holds a Master of Arts degree in jazz composition from New York University where he studied with renowned jazz composer Jim McNeely. Dave is sponsored by D'Addario Woodwinds and the Conn-Selmer Instrument Company.