JAMES ANTONUCCI

Musician. Educator. Leader. Award Winner.

JAMES ANTONUCCI has performed all across the country along-side some of the most renowned jazz artists past and present. For 20 years, he has also been an educator in public, private, non-profit and community music sector across the tri-state area. When not playing saxophone or teaching improvisation, Mr. Antonucci is a music & art district supervisor for a public school system in lower Fairfield County, CT.

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Mr. Antonucci's instrumental and choral groups have received first place, national finalist recognition, numerous soloist and outstanding section awards at many regional and national competitions including Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards, Essentially Ellington Competition at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Mingus Competition, National Jazz Festival, Heritage Music Festivals, Disney Festival, and the Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival.

Besides an extensive breadth of K-12 general, instrumental and choral classroom experience across different districts, Mr. Antonucci has experience in the non-profit sector as Manager of Educational Programs, K-12 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC. During this time he traveled around the country and was an advocate for public school music education and jazz education programs.

Mr. Antonucci spent 10 years as the Director of Bands at Hall High School in West Hartford, CT. During this time he was Producer and Director of the 65+ year tradition, Pops N Jazz. He commissioned works for the dancers, singers and bands while inviting over 25 professional singers, jazz instrumentalists and dancers to audiences in Greater Hartford. The show toured Europe 3 times and grew to in-person audiences of over 7000 people here and abroad, with further reach online. Mr. Antonucci co-founded the Summer Jazz Jam & Shoreline Jazz Collective with his wife, Rachel, which served thousands of students for over 14 years. Mr. Antonucci was the CMEA All State Jazz Chair Co-Chair 2014-2024 and past NAfME Eastern Division Jazz Ensemble Chair.

Mr. Antonucci has an undergraduate degree from the University of Miami (FL) as a saxophone, jazz and studio music performance major, and has a Master of Arts in music education from New York University. He has his sixth year degree in Educational Leadership from SCSU.

As a professional saxophonist and woodwindist, Mr. Antonucci has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Sherman Irby, Nicole Zuratis, Slide Hampton, Marcus Printup, Alexa Tarantino, Wycliffe Gordon, John Daversa, Hank Jones, Chris Crenshaw, Ted Nash, Arturo O'Farrill, Alita Moses, Elliott Mason, Lakecia Benjamin, Lenny Pickett, Alex Sipiagin, the New York Voices, Teo Macero, Kenny Werner, Tatum Greenblatt, Matt Wilson, George Garzone, Jim McNeely, Dick Oatts, John Mosca, Scott Wedholt, and Ralph Lalama. He has performed professionally in NYC at the Bluenote, Birdland, Avery Fisher Hall, Rose Hall and Dizzy's Club (JALC), and Jazz Standard jazz clubs. Locally he has performed with the Hartford, New Haven, and Waterbury Symphonies, and at the Goodspeed Opera House.