Giovanni Martinez

Trumpet / Flugelhorn

Giovanni Martinez (18) is a senior at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. Martinez picked up the trumpet 9 years ago, after being informed hat his great uncle, Miguel Martinez, was “The Father of Mariachi Trumpet”. Since then Giovanni incorporated many gneres into his musical language predominantly developing his musicianship in the jazz domain. Martinez has many musical inspirations from his great uncle Miguel to Clifford Brown, Maurice André to Arturo Sandoval, Louis Armstrong to Wynton Marsalis,just to mention a few.

Martinez has received several honors and accolades in his high school career. He was one of five trumpet players selected nationwide for the 2022 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, where he performed under the direction of Gerald Clayton at the 2022 Monterey Jazz Festival. Martinez was also selected for the 2022 NAfME All-Nationals Jazz Ensemble directed by Todd Stoll and, most recently, Music For All’s 2023 Jazz Band of America under the direction of Alan Baylock. Accolades include being awarded “Superior Musician” and “Outstanding Musician” by the 2022 National Jazz Festival, and being a YoungArts Merit Winner in Jazz Trumpet.

Martinez expressed much graditude and thanks to the DeMerle family and the Amelia Island Jazz Festival Committee for granting him this scholarship. Martinez plans to continue his pursuit of becoming a professional musician to share his art with the world.