Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Zenón is considered to be one of the most influential saxophonists and composers of his generation.
(Photo: Jimmy Katz)Miguel Zenón has been appointed to the music faculty at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology as Assistant Professor of Jazz, beginning this fall. This is the first time that this position has been appointed at MIT.
“MIT is an incredible school with top-tier students and a creative and open-minded aesthetic,” said Zenón, an alto saxophonist, composer and bandleader who has received Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships. “I’m extremely excited and honored to become part of the MIT family.”
Considered one of the most influential saxophonists and composers of his generation, Zenón has also developed a unique voice as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between jazz and his many musical influences. As a composer, he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, NYO Jazz, The New York State Council on the Arts, Chamber Music America, Logan Center for The Arts, The Hyde Park Jazz Festival, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, MIT, Spektral Quartet, Miller Theater, The Hewlett Foundation, Peak Performances, PRISM Quartet and many of his peers.
Zenón has given hundreds of lectures and master classes at institutions all over the world. In addition to his new position in the Music & Theater Arts Department at MIT, he also serves as the current Visiting Scholar for the Harmony and Jazz Composition Department at Berklee College of Music.
In 2011, he founded Caravana Cultural, a program which presents free-of-charge jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico. In 2022, he received an Honorary Doctorate from La Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the highest honor bestowed by the institution. DB
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
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