Biography
Aaron Kaufman-Levine is a Chicago based saxophonist, composer and improviser. Aaron is an active performer in the Chicago-area, and has led his group at the Chicago Jazz Festival, Constellation, Fulton Street Collective, and more. He has also played at Chicago Symphony Hall, Pritzker Pavilion, Andy’s Jazz Club, Chicago Jazz Showcase, Hungry Brain, The LilyPad, Distler Hall (Tufts), Killian Hall (MIT) and the historic Jordan Hall (NEC).
He leads the Aaron Kaufman-Levine Quartet, co-leads “Bearduo” and “Banana Acid” and is a member of the 2023 New England Conservatory Honors Ensemble “Blind Glass”
An award-winning saxophonist, Aaron has performed with the nationally acclaimed Jazz Band of America and is the recipient of he Kiewit-Wang Mentorship Award from the Jazz Institute of Chicago, 1st prize in the ILMEA state improvisation competition two years in a row, Outstanding Soloist honors at the Purdue Jazz Competition, and the runner-up in the Luminarts Cultural Foundation Improvisation competition. He is a recent graduate of New England Conservatory where he graduated with honors as a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship. At NEC, his primary teachers were Miguel Zenon, Jason Palmer, Donny McCaslin, Jerry Leake, Melissa Aldana, Jason Moran, Jerry Bergonzi, Frank Carlberg and Joe Morris.
Aaron has played with Ken Vandermark, Miguel Zenon, Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, Joe Morris, Michael Formanek, Rajiv Halim, Nanette Frank and more.
Aaron is passionate about artistic collaboration and bringing new forms of creative expression to the community, especially his hometown of Oak Park, IL where he co-runs his own interdisciplinary Music Festival “Music in the Garden”.