Julian Velasco
Saxophonist Julian Velasco is a Chicago-based soloist, collaborative artist, educator, and fierce advocate for contemporary arts, whose artistic vision aspires to reflect and celebrate the plurality of our society. Raised in the diverse musical culture of Los Angeles, his own musical background draws from classical, jazz, experimental, and popular styles whose influences inform his approach to all music.

Velasco has premiered over 50 new works, and has collaborated and performed with a wide range of artists including Ron Carter, Billy Childs, Jimmy Cobb, Nathalie Joachim, Christian McBride, Rufus Reid, PRISM Quartet, Zhou Tian, Rodney Whitaker, Cassie Wieland, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. From his recent fellowship at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, he was highlighted in the New York Times review, “As Bang on a Can Returns, a New Generation Rises.” Velasco has appeared in concert at festivals and concert series such as Bang on a Can’s Long Play Festival and LOUD Weekend, Chautauqua Summer Music Festival, Detroit Jazz Festival, Ear Taxi Festival, CHIMEFest (Chicago IL), Lumina Festival (Wilmington NC), Princeton Sound Kitchen, Next Generation Jazz Festival (Monterey CA), Fringe Festival (Milwaukee WI), Tri-C Jazz Festival, and Pendulum New Music (Boulder CO).

Velasco is the Artistic Director and soprano saxophonist of ~Nois saxophone quartet. Known for their “truly innovative musicianship” and “raw creativity” (Cacophony Magazine), ~Nois has presented over 90 performances in 20 states at festivals such as Big Ears, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and the University of Chicago Presents Series. In demand as a guest artist and lecturer at universities across the nation, ~Nois has held residencies and given performances at over 30 institutions including University of Southern California, the University of Colorado - Boulder, the Manhattan School of Music, Princeton University and was the 2020/21 Don Michael Randel Ensemble in Residence at the University of Chicago. Their recent collaboration with Annika Socolofsky in the world premiere of her composition “I Tell You Me” was heralded by the Chicago Tribune as “grotesquely gorgeous… among the most captivating compositions heard the whole festival [Ear Taxi 2021]” and included in their “Chicago's Top 10 for classical music, opera and jazz that defined 2021”.

Velasco was presented in his orchestral debut at age 17 as a soloist with the South Coast Symphony. In the 2021/22 season, he presented the world premiere of James Aikman’s saxophone quartet concerto “Alarm!” along with PRISM Quartet and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. In the 2022/23 season, he will be presenting his Symphony Center concerto-debut performing Roberto Sierra’s “Concerto for Saxophones” with the Chicago Sinfonietta.

A Luminarts Cultural Foundation Fellow in Classical Music, Velasco has garnered top prizes from organizations including Music Teachers National Association, Vandoren Emerging Artists, Yamaha Young Performing Artists, and the North American Saxophone Alliance. Velasco holds degrees from Northwestern University, where he is currently a doctoral candidate, and Michigan State University, where was he was one of the only students to receive degrees in both Classical and Jazz Performance concurrently. His teachers include James Barrera, Diego Rivera, Joseph Lulloff, and Taimur Sullivan. In 2021, Velasco was named the first-ever Cedille Records Emerging Artist. His debut solo album, “As We Are” will be releasing in August 2022 on Cedille Records, marking the first all-saxophone album on the label.