Las Cruces musician sets sights on New York City

“Starting in eighth grade at Picacho Middle School under the instruction of Tony Montaño, I began my formal music training and fell in love with the saxophone,” said Las Cruces native Orlando Madrid, who is about to enter the Artist Diploma program at New York University.

Madrid earned a BFA in music education at the University of New Mexico and a master’s degree in jazz studies and contemporary music from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. 

Madrid, 29, was recently awarded a $500 scholarship by the Mesilla Valley Jazz and Blues Society to help him enroll at NYU.

“I’m very honored and humbled to be where I am at in this stage of life thus far,” Madrid said. “The Artist Diploma program “is the most prestigious performance program offered by NYU’s music program.” 

Enrollment, he said, requires a master’s degree and demonstrated potential for a successful career as a musical performer.

After graduating from the NYU program, Madrid said he plans on “working, teaching and performing in New York City, but always giving back to the Las Cruces community that has given me so much along the way.”

Madrid said he and his younger sister were raised by a single mother, Martha Madrid.

“My mom worked tirelessly in order to provide for us, even to get us things that she knew would make us happy,” he said. “I inherited my mother's work ethic, her sense of gratitude and her kind heart.”

Madrid said he also owes a lot to Montaño “for igniting and unlocking this passion of being a musician that has never left.”

At Eastman, Madrid said he “had the privilege of studying with the great Charles Pillow. He instilled within me the concept of always trying to be in the moment when playing, as well as the importance of playing with your heart.”

“I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to partake in all the beautiful experiences that have led me to this specific moment,” he said. “I’m exceedingly grateful that I have been able to make and learn music with some of the best musicians and teachers in the world, and that I’ve been afforded an opportunity to have a career in music. I still consider myself as a complete beginner as a jazz musician and recognize that I am forever in a state of growth. Still, I love to play and that is why I keep doing it.”