AARON J. KRUZIKI (he/him) 
woodwind specialist, arranger, composer, educator 
linktr.ee/aaronkruziki 
 
At home on saxophones, clarinets, flutes, double reeds, and ethnic winds (full list below), Aaron Kruziki dedicates his life to music and community. As a recording artist, composer, and arranger, Aaron’s work may be heard on sound recording labels including RCA, Vulf Records, Sunnyside, Whirlwind, Red Piano, WPR, Armored Records, and his own Kruzmusic. A 2019 Juno Award winner (Jazz Album of the Year: Group), Aaron has appeared at jazz festivals in New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Luxembourg, Norway, and Tunisia. A resident of the city of Atlanta since 2019, Aaron spent the past two decades in San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Michigan.  

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As an educator, Aaron has appeared as a clinician and guest artist at McGill University, University of Toronto, University of Arizona, Humber college, University of Northern Iowa, and University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Aaron’s compositions and arrangements have been featured at the Noorderlicht Photo Festival in the Netherlands, the Rubin Art Museum and Benrubi Art Gallery in New York City, the Robert Koch Gallery in San Francisco, and JapanFest ATL 2024. 

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Aaron has appeared in concert with Tony Award winning actress Bernadette Peters and multi-Grammy winning artists Joan Rivers and Johnny Mathis. He has appeared with jazz greats Andy Milne, Ben Monder, Ralph Alessi, Stanley Clarke, Rufus Reid, Fred Hersch, Clare Fischer, Jim McNeely, Azure McCall, and Randy Brecker. He continues to work in Atlanta with bassists Lauren Seay, Jackie Pickett, and Neal Starkey, trumpeter Joe Gransden’s big band, pianists Martial Toulouse, Penelope Williams, and Tyrone Jackson, drummers Jonathan Mills, Robert Boone, Emrah Kotan, and Paul Shaw, guitarists Charles Williams and Dave Frackenpohl, multi-instrumentalists Marla Feeney, Sam Skelton, Neil Newcomb and Jack Walker, and many other wonderful musicians. Aaron also works regularly at The Temple synagogue with cantor Tracey Scher.  
 

As a multiple woodwind player, Aaron has appeared at Atlanta’s Fox Theater with Broadway productions of Disney’s Frozen and Tina Fey’s Mean Girls. He has also performed with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, City Springs Theatre Company, and the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre for productions of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins and Caroline, or Change by Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner. Aaron has worked on television series Doom Patrol (DC Comics), Gossip Girl (CW), and The First Lady (Showtime).  

In our community, Aaron works at the Atlanta Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 148-462. Apart from his daily role as office manager, he is involved in special operations, including grant management, recording session contract research, and community outreach. Aaron is also a member of the SGI-USA, an international Nichiren Buddhist organization.

He received his undergraduate degree in Jazz Studies from Western Michigan University and master’s degree in Jazz Performance Studies from the New England Conservatory. Aaron is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and is excited to bring his life experience to the Jazz Studies program at Georgia State University. 

List of Woodwind Instruments (The Palette)

clarinet
eb clarinet
alto clarinet
bass clarinet
flute
alto flute
piccolo
soprano saxophone

alto saxophone
tenor saxophone
baritone saxophone
oboe
english horn
duduk (in A, D, C, and G)
bass duduk (in A)
zurna (in A)
shakuhachi (in D, Db, B, F, and F#)
native flutes (in C# and A)
bansuri (in C and G)
other transverse flutes

whistle (in G)
ocarina