Harry Jo, saxophone

Meet Harry

Harry performs on Show 425.

Harry Jo (saxophone), 15, hails from Pleasanton, California and is a sophomore at Amador Valley High School. Harry has held the lead alto position in the Amador Valley High School’s Jazz Band A since his freshman year, and recently, he was admitted into the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Band. He passed the CM Advanced Level with State Honors on the saxophone, and in 2022, he was selected to perform for the improvisation recital and masterclass at the MTAC State Convention. In 2020 and 2021, Harry was selected as one of two altos in the Junior High Jazz Band at the California All-State Music Education Conference. He also received the Scholarship Award at the 2020 Campana Jazz Festival.

In addition to saxophone, Harry also plays violin and piano. As a violinist, he held the Assistant Principal position in both the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra from 2019 to 2021 and the Livermore-Amador Symphony from 2018 to 2019. Currently, he is the Concertmaster in the Amador Valley High School’s Symphony Orchestra. Harry has won numerous competitions on the violin, including the 2021 Junior Bach Festival and 1st Prize in the 2018 Korean-American Music Supporters’ Association Competition. In 2021, at the age of 14, he won the American Protégé Music Competition and will be performing at Carnegie Hall. As a pianist, Harry is a recipient of the Certificate of Merit (CM) Advanced Level State Honors. On the piano, he won 1st Prizes in multiple competitions, including the Korean-American Music Supporters’ Association, Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC) Piano Solo Competition, United States Open Music Competition, MTAC Contra Costa Branch Sonata Competition, MTAC Contra Costa Branch Baroque Festival, and the North California Young Talents Music Competition. Most recently, he won the Youth Excellence in Arts Competition for piano. Outside of music, Harry enjoys tennis, cooking, paddleboarding, and surfing