Matt Marantz started playing the alto sax at age 11 in 1997. His abilities were recognized at an early on by “Down Beat Magazine” winning the jazz soloist award in 2000 in middle school as an eighth grader and is the only student to ever win this award four years in a row (2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003)! Matthew has also been named the best instrumental jazz soloist at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey California for 2001 and 2002 in the combo division. He is the first person to place with eight (8) awards in the “Down Beat Student Music Awards” for young artists in North America in one year (2004).

Matt has played with a variety of jazz musicians including, Dave Brubeck, Christian McBride, Jeff Tain Watts, Roy Hargrove, Keith Anderson, Roger Boykin, Shelly Carroll, Chick Corea, Wayne Delano, Dan Haerle, Jamey Aebersold, Chris Potter, Gary Burton, Marchel Ivery, Bobby Sparks, Clark Terry, Gerald Wilson, Bernard Wright, John and Jeff Clayton, Dick Oatts, Dr. Billy Taylor as well as Red Holloway. He has participated in the April Monterey Educational Jazz Festival 2001 through 2004 and the Monterey Jazz Festival in September of 2001, 2002, and 2003. He returns as a “Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellow this September '04 back in Monterey. He performed at the “International Association of Jazz Educators Conference” in Long Beach CA., January 2002 and again in Toronto Canada in January of 2003 and performed five concerts at the IAJE Conference in New York this January 2004.

At present Matt is a freshman at the Manhattan School of Music in New York on a full scholarship where he performs in a variety of small ad large group ensembles. He is free-lancing in the New York area and studies sax with Bob Mintzer.