Don J. Aliquo

Professor

Don J. Aliquo
615-904-8362
Room 112, Saunders Fine Arts Building (SFA)
MTSU Box 47, Murfreesboro, TN 37132

Degree Information

  • MM, Duquesne University (1994)
  • BS, Duquesne University (1992)

Biography

Saxophonist Don Aliquo is an active performing and recording artist based in the Nashville area. He has played or recorded with many notable artists including Rufus Reid, Gary Burton, Greg Osby, Roger Humphries, Harold Danko, Scott Robinson, Jim McNeely and Obed Calvaire. His most recent cd release (The Innocence of Spring) was recorded live with pianist Michael Jefry Stevens at Hinton Hall on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University where Aliquo is Professor of Saxophone and ...

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Saxophonist Don Aliquo is an active performing and recording artist based in the Nashville area. He has played or recorded with many notable artists including Rufus Reid, Gary Burton, Greg Osby, Roger Humphries, Harold Danko, Scott Robinson, Jim McNeely and Obed Calvaire. His most recent cd release (The Innocence of Spring) was recorded live with pianist Michael Jefry Stevens at Hinton Hall on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University where Aliquo is Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies. Released in Fall 2019, it has received critical acclaim including a nomination by jazz critic Ludwig vanTrikt for National Public Radio's top 10 jazz recordings of 2019. Other recordings include New Ties and Binds and Jazz Folk both of which received positive critical acclaim and national exposure.  

He has been described as a“fluid and articulate player with a flow of always surprising ideas complete with a dexterous technique and an incredibly smooth tenor sound.” His career began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he grew up listening to and learning from the city’s jazz legends while following in the footsteps of his father, a well-respected jazz artist.  

Since his appointment in 1999 as Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies at Middle Tennessee State University, he has traveled and performed extensively. Recent highlights include two trips to China with MTSU Jazz faculty performing in Beijing, Nanjing, Wuxi and Wuhan. The latter included Aliquo being appointed Guest Professor of Musical Performance at Wuhan Conservatory of Music. Don was also invited a to perform and teach in Medellin and Pereira, Columbia, in 2018 as part of the "Promising Artists of the 21st Century" Jazz Camp, organized by the Centro Columbo Americana.   Aliquo is an artist/endorser for Vandoren reeds and mouthpieces and Conn-Selmer saxophones.

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