Award-winning saxophonist and composer Michael Thomas has been an important part of the Boston jazz scene since moving there in 2008. Michael comes from a family of musicians – his father is a saxophonist, and his mother a clarinetist. At the age of 5, Michael began piano lessons, then started saxophone at age 10. His focus quickly shifted to saxophone, and he continued his studies on this instrument throughout middle and high school. While in high school, Michael started concentrating on jazz, and began studying flute and clarinet as well. During his senior year, he was awarded a full scholarship to attend the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music as a Studio Music and Jazz major. In addition to studying improvisation, Michael’s experiences at UM gave him the opportunity to focus extensively on woodwind doubling. He regularly performs on alto, soprano, and tenor saxophones, as well as flute, piccolo, alto flute, clarinet, and bass clarinet. While at UM, Michael performed with the DownBeat Award winning