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Biography

A freelance musician for more than forty years, Michael Monaghan is a jazz player, a woodwind specialist, and a saxophone soloist in both the jazz and classical worlds. He is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory, with graduate studies at the University of Massachusetts and the Eastman School of Music. Mr. Monaghan’s work includes numerous performances with the Boston Symphony  Orchestra, and he has been a regular player and soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra for almost 40 years. He has also performed for the Boston Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, and the Bolshoi Ballet. In addition to performing with Arthur Fiedler, John Williams, and Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops, Mr. Monaghan has also worked with conductors Seiji Ozawa, Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, James Levine, Alan Gilbert, and Erich Kunzel. Mr. Monaghan has recently toured the United States, Canada, and Central America as a member of the “Star Wars in Concert” orchestra. As a sideman, he has played for many popular entertainers, from Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, and Ray Charles, to Cyndi Lauper, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, and Elvis Costello. As a jazz player, Mr. Monaghan has performed with Buddy Rich, Anita O’Day, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, and Chick Corea. He has played with the Woody Herman Band, the American Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra, and he has performed at Carnegie Hall with jazz legends Mel Torme and Gerry Mulligan. Mr. Monaghan’s Boston Pops experience includes playing on the long-running PBS television series “Evening at Pops”. He has recorded with legendary film composer John Williams, and has played on many of Keith Lockhart’s Boston Pops recordings, including “The Latin Album” on which he is a featured saxophone soloist. In addition, his playing has been heard on many network television programs (“Friends”, “Rescue Me”, “Walker, Texas Ranger”) and movie soundtracks. With the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he is the saxophone soloist on the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood’s highly acclaimed film “Mystic River”.