Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Melissa Aldana Lets Her Playing Speak for Itself

22/10/2019

Chilean saxophonist and Berklee alumna Melissa Aldana B.M. 09 dropped by Berklee this week as a guest at the Gathering, an event series presented by the Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. Aldana, a third-generation professional saxophonist, talked about her creative journey and answered students' questions about practicing and facing gender discrimination as a performer.

The following is an edited collection of Aldanas comments and advice.

On practice I love to practice. I wouldn't feel like I was doing the right thing if I didn't practice and try to get a little bit better every day. I practice because I love to do it. And it feels worth it to me.

On coming to Berklee Growing up in Chile, I didn't really have the chance to see other young performers, especially not women. The most amazing thing [at Berklee] for me was just to be around other musicians that played on a higher level.

On the legacy of her father, Marcos Aldana I think the most important skill my dad gave me is discipline and love for the process. [He taught me] what it takes to achieve something, whatever it is.

On gender discrimination It's important to acknowledge [gender discrimination] and be a role model. But it's important not to let it get under my skin. It takes me out of what is the most important thing, which is doing my job.

On being a role model The music should always come first. If I'm in an all-female band, it's because everyone can play at a high level. The best message we can give to the next generation is through role models: strong females that can play the instrument and have something personal and strong to say.

The Gathering continues with Georgia Anne Muldrow on Monday, October 21.

Related categories:

News

Related Reading

Melissa Aldana Leads Berklee Student Quintet on Tour Saxophonist Melissa Aldana is featured in the latest Berklee's Masters on the Road series, in which master musicians return to teach and lead touring ensembles.

Nashville Said Her Gender Was a Liability. Now Shes Starting Her Own Label. Emma White B.M. '10 talks songwriting, launching a female-centric record label, and navigating the unsolicited advice given to performers.

Breaking a Sound Barrier with Captain Marvel Berklee Today

Spring

2019

Volume

30

Number

3

More from Berklee Now

Most Popular

How Shoegaze Lived, Died, and Came Back to Influence a New Generation If you like Coldplay, Beach House, or even the 1975, then you probably like shoegaze-even if you didnt know it.

Latest

Mexican Vocalist Aida Cuevas Meets Berklee on November 14 Cuevas is the first female singer in the traditional mariachi genre to win a Grammy.

Berklee India Exchange Presents Zakir Hussain The Indian tabla maestro will host a one-week residency at Berklee this November.

I Need It with Fire': A Day in the Studio with Joel Hamilton The Grammy-nominated engineers intuitive production style inspired a knockout studio session from an alumni band during his weeklong Berklee visit.

Read All

Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.

Berklee Blogs

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Instagram

Snapchat

Soundcloud

Spotify
LINK: https://www.berklee.edu/news/berklee-now/melissa-aldana-fights-gender-...
See more stories from berklee

Most recent headlines

09/11/2025

Dalet Unveils Agentic AI Media Workflows at IBC2025

Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

18/09/2025

NWSL Brings on Victory+ as Rightsholder, Expands Deals With CBS and ESPN for 2026-27 Seasons

NWSL Brings on Victory as Rightsholder, Expands Deals With CBS and ESPN for 202...

18/09/2025

CBS Sports Travels to Far Reaches of Europe To Tell Clubs' Stories During 2025-26 Champions League Season

CBS Sports Travels to Far Reaches of Europe To Tell Clubs' Stories During 20...

18/09/2025

The Great Integration: How Sports Media Leaders Are Making MAM, Storage, and Cloud Systems Work Together

The Great Integration: How Sports Media Leaders Are Making MAM, Storage, and Clo...

18/09/2025

Amazon Prime Video Launches Prime Vision for Champions League Coverage in UK

Amazon launches Prime Vision for Champions League coverage By George Bevir Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 18:28 Print This Story Amazon is rolling out its ...

18/09/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Canon USA's Rich Eilers, Yuji Tanaka Talk Novel' Feature, EOS C50 Camera

SVG Sit-Down: Canon USA's Rich Eilers, Yuji Tanaka Talk Novel' Feature,...

18/09/2025

NBC Sports Will Deploy a Pair of Dedicated Analysts On the Bench' for Peacock NBA Monday Games

NBC Sports Will Deploy a Pair of Dedicated Analysts On the Bench' for Peaco...

18/09/2025

WATCH: Be a Fly on the Wall for a Conversation Between Robert Redford and Michelle Satter

Editor's Note: The loss of our founder and friend Robert Redford, leaves us...

18/09/2025

From the Archives: Sundance Institute Founder Robert Redford on Why He's Always Believed in the Power of Documentary Filmmaking

Editor's Note: The loss of our founder and friend Robert Redford, leaves us...

18/09/2025

From the Archives: Revisit Robert Redford's Words of Wisdom

Robert Redford talks with Lab fellows at the 1981 Directors Lab | 1981 Unknown for Sundance Institute Editor's Note: The loss of our founder and friend ...

18/09/2025

Ed Sheeran's Play' Comes to Life With Spotify's Special Fan Event in London

Forget just hearing a new album; last night, London lived one. Together with Spo...

18/09/2025

Sony Music Group and Spotify Announce Expanded Multiyear Global Partnership

Spotify and Sony Music Group today announced an extension and expansion of their long-standing, successful global partnership. As part of their ongoing collabor...

18/09/2025

SBS Audio podcast helps new Australians keep their Head Above Water

SBS Audio podcast helps new Australians keep their Head Above Water 17 September, 2025 Media releases As Australia heads toward summer, comedians and good ...

18/09/2025

Football fans to watch the inaugural Australian Championship on SBS

Football fans to watch the inaugural Australian Championship on SBS 18 September, 2025 Media releases Images here SBS and Football Australia are delighted...

18/09/2025

L3Harris Scales Up Rocket Motor Testing at Camden Site

L3Harris's advanced large solid rocket motor eSR-73 is hot fire tested at the company's Camden, Arkansas site....

18/09/2025

The Gauge: Poland | August 2025

August, the last month of the summer vacation, brought stability to the amount of time spent in front of the TV screen. The data shows that Polish viewers watch...

18/09/2025

FCC Commissioner Gomez Blasts ABC for Suspending Jimmy Kimmel

WASHINGTON The controversy over ABC's decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel, continues to heat up, with FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez blasting ABCs decision to ...

18/09/2025

FOR-A America Appoints Jo Aun to Lead US Product Developm...

FOR-A America named Jo Aun as Senior Manager of Product Management and Engineering, reporting directly to Satoshi Kanemura, President and COO. In this new posit...

18/09/2025

MASV Highlights Partner Integrations Fueling Modern Media...

MASV (massive.io), the fastest and most reliable large file transfer platform for media professionals and an IDC Innovator 2025 for Media & Entertainment*, toda...

18/09/2025

Dish TV India partners with ThinkAnalytics to power AI-dr...

ThinkAnalytics, the global leader in video content discovery and persaonalization, today announced that Dish TV India, the leading content distribution company,...

18/09/2025

DirecTV Adds Three Sports Channels to Its FAST Streaming Offering

DirecTV continues to expand its women's sports offerings by adding Sports Fanatics' and Whoopi Goldberg's Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) All Wo...

18/09/2025

Fall Football Kicks Off With Native HDR Production, NextGen TV Telecast

WASHINGTON NextGen TV viewers are beginning to see what high dynamic range (HDR) brings to their football enjoyment with the launch of the sport's fall seas...

18/09/2025

FCC Extends Deadline for EEO Audit Replies

WASHINGTON After issuing audit letters seeking Equal Employment Opportunity data from a randomly selected group of TV and radio stations in August, the Federal ...

18/09/2025

Warner Bros. Discovery Signs New Deal with Nielsen

NEW YORK Warner Bros. Discovery and Nielsen have signed a new, long-term, multi-year deal that covers measurement for all Warner Bros. Discovery platforms acros...

18/09/2025

CIMM Launches Startup Program and Innovation Showcase

NEW YORK As part of its ongoing efforts to develop better measurement solutions, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) announced the launch of t...

18/09/2025

UPDATED: ABC Takes 'Jimmy Kimmel Live! Off the Air Indefinitely

IRVING, Texas Following threats from the Federal Communications Commission and the announcement that the nations largest station group, Nexstar Media Group, wou...

18/09/2025

VEON Inaugurates JazzCash Experience Lounge in Islamabad

18 Sep 2025 VEON Inaugurates JazzCash Experience Lounge in Islamabad Dubai and Islamabad, September 18, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital opera...

18/09/2025

Natasha Lyonne and Matt Berry to star in new Sky Original action-adventure comedy Force & Majeure

Created by Tom Scharpling, Matt Berry and Natasha Lyonne, the new six-part serie...

18/09/2025

Niamh Algar and Tom Hollander star in Sky Original The Iris Affair full trailer released

The eight-part sun-drenched thriller from Luther creator Neil Cross launches on ...

18/09/2025

Rohde & Schwarz announces new frequency models up to 54 GHz for R&S ZNB3000 vector network analyzer

Rohde & Schwarz announces new frequency models up to 54 GHz for R&S ZNB3000 vect...

18/09/2025

RT Prime Time investigation uncovers location data of thousands of smartphones in Ireland for sale

Individual phones could be tracked back to specific residential addresses Sm...

18/09/2025

GeForce NOW Unleashes Dying Light: The Beast' in the Cloud

GeForce NOW is packing a monstrous punch this week. Dying Light: The Beast, the latest adrenaline fueled chapter in Techland's parkour meets survival horror...

18/09/2025

Dolby Atmos arrives in Maruti Suzuki Victoris, expanding premium in-car entertainment in India

September 18 2025, 04:20 (PDT) Dolby Atmos arrives in Maruti Suzuki Victoris, e...

17/09/2025

Tech Focus: Audio Training, Part 2 - Manufacturers Offer Extensive Online Learning

Tech Focus: Audio Training, Part 2 - Manufacturers Offer Extensive Online Learni...

17/09/2025

Tech Focus: Audio Training, Part 1 - A1 Shortage Remains a Major-League Challenge for Sports Broadcasting

Tech Focus: Audio Training, Part 1 - A1 Shortage Remains a Major-League Challeng...

17/09/2025

Dua Lipa's Service95 Book Club' Goes Live at the New York Public Library

It was the ultimate convergence of pop culture and literary prestige: Last night, Dua Lipa brought her Service95 Book Club podcast to the stage for a special li...

17/09/2025

The Gauge: Mexico August 2025

During August, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico showed an increase of 0.4% compared to the previous month, accounting for 25% of TV viewing. Discl...

17/09/2025

Jo Aun Joins FOR-A America as Senior Manager, Product Engineering

CYPRESS, Calif. FOR-A America has named Jo Aun as senior manager of product engineering, a new role responsible for guiding the planning, development and rollou...

17/09/2025

PlayBox Neo and CIS Group Power CazeTV with a seamless Pl...

PlayBox Neo, in partnership with CIS Group, a leading provider of media and broadcast technology solutions, has successfully deployed PlayBox Neo's Dual Cha...

17/09/2025

Energy Regulatory Agency Underscores Commitment with Ene...

In a relationship that mirrors societal advances in sustainability, Brightline Lighting and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Headquarters have en...

17/09/2025

Clear-Com Powers Star-Studded Communications at Houston A...

Clear-Com is proud to support the world-class productions of Alley Theatre, one of the oldest and largest nonprofit resident theatres in the United States. With...

17/09/2025

Arch Platform Technologies Announces Strategic Collaborat...

Arch Platform Technologies (www.archpt.io), a pioneer in automated, scalable cloud infrastructure for high-performance workflows, today announced a Strategic Co...

17/09/2025

With over 39bn EUR in assets under management and record-...

Over 300 selected decision-makers from start-ups, corporates, and VC funds worldwide will gather for the third edition of the event, united by a single goal: to...

17/09/2025

Telestream Celebrates Award Win at IBC2025

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, is excited to announce that its flagship Vantage platform and its next-generation AI capabilities re...

17/09/2025

Mediagenix Celebrates Triple Best of Show Wins at IBC2025...

Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions that profitably connect the right content to the right audience, proudly announces its three Best of Show...

17/09/2025

PlayBox Neo Appoints Transtel Universal as Top Reseller P...

In a move to further establish a firm foothold across South East Asia, PlayBox Neo, the well-respected name in broadcast playout and channel branding, has appoi...

17/09/2025

Wisycom Unveils Two New Solutions at IBC 2025

Wisycom, a global leader in advanced wireless audio solutions, announced two major wireless solutions at IBC 2025 (Stand 8.D30). This includes the Portable RF-o...

17/09/2025

Six Berklee Alumni Win Emmy Awards

Six Berklee Alumni Win Emmy Awards The recipients were recognized for their contributions to acclaimed programs Severance, The Studio, The Penguin, SNL50: The...

17/09/2025

Applications Open for Berklee in Santo Domingo

Applications Open for Berklee in Santo Domingo The weeklong contemporary music program will run January 5-10, 2026. By Colette Greenstein September 17, 2025 ...