Michael Troy
About
I am a professional musician and multi-instrumentalist residing in Brooklyn, New York. I am primarily a saxophonist, but also double proficiently on trumpet and drums, and guitar. I have performed professionally for 13 years in NYC and internationally with a host of world class musicians. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in music performance from SUNY Purchase where I attended on Scholarship. I have a decade of music education experience primarily through private lesson study, where I work on jazz vocabulary, music fundamentals, sound production, and other topics suited for all levels of the student’s ability ranging from beginner to advanced.
Teaching Style
My teaching style is always tailored specifically to the individual student's age, level, and musical interests. I always emphasize the fundamentals with all of my students - these include sound production/quality, rhythm and internal pulse, harmonic/melodic development and strong voice leading, as well as keen ear training. I always make sure to work on specific pieces of music that the student is passionate about, so that the learning environment can be enjoyable and engaging.
Curriculum
The Universal Method for Saxophone by Paul Deville.
25 Daily Exercises by H. Klose.
The Breeze Easy Method Series.
Hal Leonard Rubank Elementary Method for Band, by N. W. Hovey.
Credentials & Affiliations
I earned my Bachelor of Music in Performance (Jazz Studies) from SUNY Purchase College (2011–2015), where I was honored to receive the distinguished Joe Williams Scholarship in recognition of artistic excellence and achievement. My time at Purchase laid the foundation for both my performance career and my ongoing commitment to mentorship and education.
For over a decade, I have worked as a professional freelance musician, performing primarily within the jazz idiom throughout New York City and internationally. I am currently a member of Russell Hall’s band, with whom I have toured nationally and maintained an active performance schedule over the past three years. Career highlights include opening the prestigious 48th Annual Moers Jazz Festival in Germany with Scatter the Atoms that Remain, holding a three-year monthly residency at Ornithology Jazz Club in Brooklyn, and performing more than 125 engagements as both sideman and bandleader at the renowned Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. I have also appeared at distinguished venues such as Birdland, Dizzy’s Club, The Black Cat (San Francisco), Fat Cat, The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, The Django, and many others.
Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of performing alongside many of the most respected figures in contemporary jazz, including Roy Hargrove, Obed Calvaire, Russell Hall, Arturo O’Farrill’s Grammy Award–winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, ELEW, Charles Blenzig, Immanuel Wilkins, Micah Thomas, Jonathan Barber, Dave Kikoski, Frank Lacy, Peter Washington, Adam Nussbaum, Gene Perla, Josh Evans, Jerry Weldon, Patrick Bartley, Julius Rodriguez, and Kiyoshi Kitagawa, among others.
In addition to performing, I maintain an active and dedicated teaching practice. I have served as a Substitute Adjunct Professor at SUNY Purchase, teaching improvisation and repertoire courses within the undergraduate Jazz Studies program. In these classes, I emphasize rhythmic placement, melodic clarity, and harmonic cogency, guiding students through structured approaches to learning standard repertoire by breaking down song forms, identifying recurring harmonic patterns, and using bassline–melody relationships to strengthen memorization and fluency.
From 2019–2020, I worked as a teaching artist with Jazz Empowers in Brooklyn, instructing middle and high school students in drums, saxophone, trumpet, guitar, and bass. There, I helped develop a cohesive and engaging curriculum designed to foster music literacy, ensemble collaboration, and creative improvisation. For the past twelve years, I have also maintained a private studio in New York, teaching saxophone, guitar, drums, and trumpet. My instruction encompasses advanced improvisational techniques, harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic development, transcription, technical refinement, breath control, and comprehensive music reading skills. I teach students of all ages and levels, tailoring my lessons to the unique interests and needs of each individual.
Across performance and education, my work reflects a sustained commitment to artistic excellence, disciplined musicianship, and the cultivation of the next generation of jazz artists.