Addison Trail senior and alumni achieve success in music industry

Addison Trail has a legacy and tradition of excellence in music, and a senior and two alumni recently added to that list of accomplishments.

  • On May 9, Addison Trail senior Alejandro Salazar (pictured above) was featured on NBC Nightly News with other members of the Jazz Institute of Chicago’s Jazz Ambassadors program, which pairs professionals with aspiring young musicians. Watch the segment at https://tinyurl.com/ydydvuet. In 2017, Salazar was named as a NextGenJazz Emerging Artist, an honor presented by Jazz Institute of Chicago. The NextGenJazz Emerging Artists Project promotes leadership, creativity and a foundation for self-marketing for members of the Jazz Links Student Council; a program for students to develop musically and professionally through exposure to live music, workshops with professional musicians and performance opportunities throughout the city. Salazar also is a 2017-18 recipient of the Kiewit-Wang Mentorship Award, which is given to high school students who show excellence in musicianship as jazz instrumentalists.

Photo provided by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (photo by Todd Rosenberg)

  • Addison Trail alumnus Sameed Afghani, class of 2006 (pictured above), was recently named as General Manager of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO). He will lead multiple aspects of the ASO, including operations, production, library and management of the orchestra’s schedule. Read more in the ArtsATL article at https://tinyurl.com/SameedAfghani.

  • Addison Trail alumna Morgan Pirtle, class of 2014 (pictured above during a previous performance at Addison Trail), recently received two national jazz awards for vocal music. DownBeat magazine named Pirtle as a recipient of the DownBeat Student Music Awards 2018 “Outstanding Performance” award in the Vocal Jazz Soloist category, Undergraduate College. Pirtle also won the Chicago-based Luminarts Jazz Fellowship, after winning the People’s Choice Award at the Luminarts 2018 Jazz Finals. Read more in the UIC Today article at https://tinyurl.com/MorganPirtle.