Andy G  
Instruments: Saxophone
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Blues, Musical Theater, Showtunes, Latin Jazz, Swing, Marching Band

Music has been a big part of my life since I started playing my very first instrument in the 5th Grade. I use music to get around the tough times and play music because I am passionate about it. My name is Andy and I am 21 years old and I am currently about to graduate community college with an Associate Degree in Music Performance. My goal in life is to be able to perform for a living and/or become a future educator. I started out with flute in the 5th grade and then moved onto saxophone at 6th grade because I wanted to expand my mind a little. I kept playing saxophone until today of course. After I graduated Tonica Grade School I went off to LaSalle Peru Township High School. I was a saxophone player in the LaSalle Peru Township High School Marching Band, Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, and Pitt Musician in the Musicals. We were involved at different contests and competitions. We got the opportunity to perform at the Peoria Civic Center in January 2015 for the Illinois Music Education Associate. During my 4 years of band, my teacher Kyle Adelmann demonstrated the art of walking that fine line between working hard and playing hard and creating that viscous cycle of how hard it is to be a successful player but at the same time makes you realize how fun it can be to be one of the best players. Kyle Adelmann showed that growth everyday was way more important than winning trophies at competitions which made me and others in the group a better person today. After High School I went off to Illinois Valley Community College and I was involved in the College Jazz Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, and private lessons to be confident in performing and to improve more and more at playing. Throughout the summers I am involved in the Peru, Spring Valley, Depue, and Oglesby municipal band. We are a concert band with current and retired music teachers, current and retired army musicians, amateur musicians, or even side musicians in our local area called the Illinois Valley. We rehearsed a couple days of the week to go over new music. A lot of the concerts we sight read music without even looking at it once. The main goal of this organization was to entertain the audience but at the same time we managed to become more independent of playing and sight reading. I also take a lot of opportunities to do a lot of side gigs. Last year around this time I was asked to come up and play at the Green Mill in Chicago to perform with lots of great artists/musicians. After that great opportunity, I get asked to do a lot of local musicals as a pit musicians and I just keep performing in local community bands. I do wish to continue my education to earn my Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance after that I plan on getting a teaching job and trying to find a job as a musician in the bigger cities