Prof. Xavier Perez

Originally from Miami, Florida, Professor Perez has performed in 13 countries and 48 states with a wide range of artists in the jazz and Latin music worlds. As the sole U.S. representative, he placed 2nd in the Montreux Jazz Festival international saxophone competition, which featured hundreds of applicants from over 20 countries.

Before relocating to the Washington D.C. metro area, Professor Perez was a freelance performing and recording artist in New York City for 11 years. During his tenure, he became a regular sideman at venues including The Blue Note, Smalls, 55 Bar, Fat Cat, Smoke, Birdland, and The Jazz Standard, among many others.

He has performed as a touring member of Paquito D’Rivera and The United Nations Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau, Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York, and the Ignacio Berroa Quartet. He has shared concert, festival, and nightclub stages with artists like James Moody, Diane Schurr, John Fedchock, and Michael Mossman. He can be heard on recordings alongside Mark Turner, Antonio Sanchez, Edmar Castaneda, and Walt Weiskopf.

Professor Perez is currently a tenor saxophonist for the U.S. Army Blues, the premier jazz ensemble for the U.S. Army, and an active freelance saxophonist in the mid-atlantic. He performs at many of the top venues in the area and has appeared with The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra Pops, and the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra. 

Professor Perez is proud endorser of D’Addario Woodwind Reeds and KB Saxophone Necks.

Adjunct Applied Faculty

• Jazz Saxophone

Education

• BA, Studio Music and Jazz, University of Miami
• MM, Jazz Studies State University of New York Purchase College
• Additional Graduate Study, Rutgers University Institute of Jazz Studies