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

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

Ratings Roundup: NBA Playoffs Return to NBC Sports up 38%; NFL Draft Down 12% Overall From 2025

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

01/05/2026

BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing Appoints Will Wright as Chief Operating Officer to Drive Global Growth and Operational Excellence

BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing ( BKB ), today announced the appointment of Will Wright ...

01/05/2026

NAB Rewind: Lawo's Andreas Hilmer on the Power of the Edge One AV Stagebox

Lawo has been at the center of the industry's transition to IP and other next-generation technologies. At NAB 2026, its story was the Edge One AV stagebox, ...

01/05/2026

Kentucky Derby 152 to Air Across 19 Networks in 170-Plus Territories

HBA Media, acting on behalf of NBC Sports and Churchill Downs Incorporated, has announced broadcast and streaming distribution for Kentucky Derby 152, taking pl...

01/05/2026

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Barbara Kopple, the Director of American Dream

By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...

01/05/2026

Find Out Which The Devil Wears Prada 2' Character You Are With Our New Playlist

Florals for spring? Groundbreaking. But a playlist that tells you which The Devi...

01/05/2026

Olivia Rodrigo Takes Over FC Barcelona Jersey for El Clsico Match at Spotify Camp Nou

One of the world's biggest popstars is headed to El Cl sico. Later this mont...

01/05/2026

Heritage Audio announce the Baby RAM Black Edition

Limited-edition model celebrates 15th anniversary Heritage Audio's range of monitor controllers has just gained a new member, the Baby RAM Black Edition...

01/05/2026

Universal Audio release UAD Enigmatic '82 Overdrive Special Amp

Dumble recreation now available as UAD plug-in Along with their renowned processing plug-ins, Universal Audio have been steadily introducing emulations of c...

01/05/2026

UPDATED: Republican AGs Join Nexstar-Tegna Antitrust Suit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/05/2026

Broadcaster Draper Media Names Bill Vernon President

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/05/2026

Analysts: 'Hollywood's Vertical Video Strategy Is Dead Wrong'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/05/2026

Lightware UK celebrates new London showroom with launch e...

To celebrate the opening of its new showroom and office, Lightware UK hosted a dedicated launch event at the new London location. The event welcomed partners, c...

01/05/2026

Calrec Puts Broadcaster Choice Centre Stage at MPTS 2026

Choice without compromise The broadcast industrys transformation is accelerating, and traditional broadcasters are having to fundamentally reinvent how they o...

01/05/2026

Beam Dynamics Showcases its Asset Intelligence Platform a...

Beam Dynamics will return to MPTS 2026 with its asset intelligence platform, helping systems integrators, live production teams, media facilities and profession...

01/05/2026

Synamedia and FX Digital collaborate to bring GO Shorts a...

Best-in-class UX design and rapid, scalable delivery for next-generation viewing experiences Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced a coll...

01/05/2026

Compact new cforce MAX lens motor brings unrivaled speed and responsiveness to the Hi-5 ecosystem

Compact new cforce MAX lens motor brings unrivaled speed and responsiveness to t...

01/05/2026

Panavision welcomes Fritz Heinzle as Vice President of Sales

Panavision welcomes Fritz Heinzle as Vice President of Sales Brie Clayton May 1, 2026 0 Comments Heinzle will support Panavision's global growth s...

01/05/2026

NAB Hires FCC Staffer Ben Arden as SVP, Deputy General Counsel

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/05/2026

ARRI Introduces Compact New cforce MAX Lens Motor

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/05/2026

CPI Media Deploys QuickLink StudioCall

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/05/2026

FCC Proposes to Amend Audible Crawl Rule to Preserve Accessibility

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/05/2026

Republican AGs Join Nexstar/Tegna Antitrust Suit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/05/2026

Dan Johnson Elevates Precision Editing With NUGEN Audio D...

LONDON, APRIL 30, 2026 The Post Republic London's Re-recording Mixer and Dialogue Editor Dan Johnson has built a reputation for clean, emotionally resonan...

01/05/2026

Adobe Unveils Powerful New Innovations in Photoshop & Lightroom

Adobe Unveils Powerful New Innovations in Photoshop & Lightroom Deepa Subramaniam April 30, 2026 0 Comments Your most tedious creative tasks just got ea...

01/05/2026

Berklee Partners with Santander US to Establish Global Opportunity Fund

Berklee Partners with Santander US to Establish Global Opportunity Fund The $400,000 grant offers students access to experiential learning opportunities withi...

01/05/2026

Student Spotlight: Keziah Thomas

Student Spotlight: Keziah Thomas The Indian composer, who was named the 2026 student commencement speaker for Berklee College of Music, talks about how shes p...

01/05/2026

Hannah Waddingham and Ncuti Gatwa to host the series final two episodes of Saturday Night Live UK

Friday 1 May 2026 Hannah Waddingham and Ncuti Gatwa to host the series final tw...

01/05/2026

Got plans? Cancel them. Sky Sports Big Weekend is coming

Friday 1 May 2026 Got plans? Cancel them. Sky Sports Big Weekend is coming Sky Sports is preparing for a bumper weekend of live action, including Manchester ...

01/05/2026

Sky Sports to broadcast all matches from World Sevens Football London edition

Friday 1 May 2026 Sky Sports to broadcast all matches from World Sevens Football London edition Sky Sports will be the exclusive UK broadcaster of the women&#...

01/05/2026

NIAJ Fest Gets Los Angeles In on the Joke With Free Pop-Up Events

Back to All News NIAJ Fest Gets Los Angeles In on the Joke With Free Pop-Up Events Entertainment 01 May 2026 GlobalUnited States Link copied to clipboard ...

01/05/2026

RT Secures UEFA Champions League Rights from 2027-2031

RT Sport awarded first pick free-to-air on Wednesday nights Champions League and Super Cup finals Highlights on Wednesday nights RT today (Thursday 30 Apri...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

30/04/2026

PWHL Reports Record Growth in Third Regular Season as Playoffs Begin April 30

The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) concluded its third regular season on Saturday, reporting growth across attendance, viewership, digital engage...

30/04/2026

NBC Sports Launches National Sunday MLB Coverage Beginning May 3

NBC Sports will air national MLB coverage on Sundays beginning May 3, with MLB Sunday Leadoff on Peacock and NBCSN at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by the debut of th...

30/04/2026

Clear-Com Appoints Brian Grahn and Ben Turnwell to New Roles

Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live. Grahn joined Cle...

30/04/2026

ARRI Introduces cforce MAX Lens Motor for Hi-5 Lens Control System

ARRI has introduced the cforce MAX, a new lens motor for the Hi-5 lens control system. The cforce MAX is twice as fast as the cforce plus motor it replaces whil...

30/04/2026

Knuerr, Voxtronic, and IHSE to Present Integrated Control Room Solution at Airspace World

Knuerr, Voxtronic, and IHSE will jointly present an integrated control room solu...

30/04/2026

The CW Network and ESPN to Stream CW Sports Live Events on ESPN App

The CW Network and ESPN have announced an agreement to make the ESPN App the exclusive streaming home for all CW Sports live events. CW Sports will continue to ...

30/04/2026

Sennheiser Spectera Deployed on Ed Sheerans The Loop Global Stadium Tour

Ed Sheeran's The Loop' tour launched in Auckland in January 2026 before moving on to Australia, with South America and the United States to follow late...

30/04/2026

Audinate Launches Dante Preset Creator for Offline Network Configuration

Audinate has announced Dante Preset Creator, a free online tool for configuring Dante network settings before hardware is available on site. Presets created in ...

30/04/2026

Yahoo Sports Appoints Jarrod Schwarz as General Manager

Yahoo Sports has announced the appointment of Jarrod Schwarz as General Manager of Yahoo Sports. Schwarz will oversee product, design, and technology; revenue a...

30/04/2026

Nielsen: U.S. Viewers Spent 79.8 Billion Minutes Watching Soccer in 2025

Nielsen has released a new report, Get Ready with Media Intelligence: 2026 FIFA World Cup Edition, examining U.S. soccer viewership trends, fan engagement, and ...

30/04/2026

USA Lacrosse Names SportsEngine Preferred Youth Sports Management Platform Partner

USA Lacrosse and SportsEngine have announced an expanded partnership, naming Spo...

30/04/2026

Telos Alliance To Appear at MPTS 2026 Across Multiple Partner Booths

Telos Alliance will participate in the 2026 Media Production and Technology Show (MPTS), taking place May 13-14 at Olympia London. Rather than exhibiting from a...