Leigh Pilzer Startet

Leigh Pilzer is a Washington DC-based saxophonist, composer/arranger, and educator. Her bands, ranging from duo to septet, have been featured at many of the DMV’s top jazz venues including Blues Alley, Twins Jazz, Westminster Presbyterian, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, Jazz at the Garden, The Phillips Collection, and Keystone Korner, to name just a few. She is also a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, and has toured domestically and internationally and recorded with both groups.

Leigh is a gifted composer and arranger whose work is in the libraries of SJMO, DIVA, the Celestial Spang-a-lang Ensemble, the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, and the DC-area premier military jazz ensembles, as well as college and professional jazz ensembles throughout the country. A number of her arrangements can be heard on recordings by DIVA, including her original composition “East Coast Andy,” the opening track on The DIVA Jazz Orchestra 25th Anniversary Project (2018). Other arranging credits include horn section writing for recordings by Chuck Brown and Eva Cassidy and orchestrations for the critically acclaimed show Maurice Hines Tappin’ Thru Life. Leigh is a Brava Jazz Publishing Artist.

Leigh holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance with Jazz Emphasis from George Mason University, master’s degrees in Jazz Studies and Saxophone Performance from University of Maryland, and a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Composition and Arranging from the Berklee College of Music. Leigh is on faculty at Maryland, where she teaches Jazz Theory and Jazz Arranging. Leigh is also an in-demand clinician and guest conductor.