Tyrone Martin of Local 101-743 (Dayton, Ohio) is an award-winning saxophonist. He is also a high school sophomore. At the age of eight, Martin's band teacher introduced him to the saxophone. "I've wanted to play ever since," says Martin. Martin now plays twice a day for the Stivers School for the Arts advanced band and jazz orchestra.

 In addition to playing at school, Martin also plays in his community. "Sometimes I play for my grandmother's church. I've also played outside of school in the Serious Young Musicians band." The Serious Young Musicians consisted of several Stivers School students. Many have graduated and moved onto prestigious music schools like the Berklee College of Music. "When we were together we'd probably practice about three or four hours each day," Martin recalls. The group traveled all across the country and even performed at the Apollo Theater in New York City.

 In February, the Stivers School's jazz orchestra performed at the Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival. The competition has three different components: one for big band or large groups, another for small ensembles, and also a vocal music component.

 This year the ensemble had 18 minutes to perform their songs: "Four" by Miles Davis and "Blue Highway" by Paul Ferguson. The school won first place in the competition, which they had previously won for the first time in 2004. Martin was also recognized as best outstanding soloist in this year's competition.

 The AFM has also noted Martin's talent. In June of 2007 he received the President's Youth Award in Las Vegas, Nevada. The award is presented to outstanding musicians under the age of 35. "That was surprising," says Martin, "I didn't think I was going to win." Martin is very proud of his AFM membership. "I've always wanted to be a part of the union. It was an honor to win that award because I want to be doing this for the rest of my life."

 One of Marin's mentors in music has been his jazz orchestra teacher, Claude Thomas. Thomas is also the founder of the Stivers School jazz orchestra. He started the group back in 1993, and it has taken off from there. Thomas recruited Martin to join the orchestra as an eighth grade student and Marin now contributes mostly as a soloist.

 Martin looks to Thomas as his musical guide. "Anytime I need help, he knows everything. He's one of the best teachers I've had. He's really an inspiration," says Martin. It was Thomas, who nominated Martin for the President's Youth Award.

 "I think that Tyrone has a great future," says Thomas. "I hope he would look at those opportunities and awards and say, 'This is great,' and look at them as stepping stones for the next thing that he is going to do and the next opportunity."

 Thomas has nominated Martin to take part in the Vail Jazz Camp in Vail, Colorado. Martin has also been invited to take part in Berklee College's five-week summer program after his performance at the school's festival in February.

 Martin's musical inspirations include jazz saxophone players like Joshua Redman of Local 802 (New York City). "After a while I started listening to a lot of his tracks. He really inspires me."

 Although he enjoys performing and learning a variety of music, Martin prefers jazz. "I started off with jazz so that's my favorite," says Martin. "I try to learn a lot of different types of music. If you get stuck on one genre you'll never know what other songs feel like. You should learn a variety of music so you can become a better player." He personally hopes to learn more about blues, classical, and other genres.

 Martin is also currently learning to play new instruments, including flute and clarinet. "A lot of people tell me I'm good at sax but I really want to find a lot of gigs, I should also play clarinet, flute, and other instruments," he says.

 Once he graduates from Stivers School, Martin hopes to go on to college for music and hopes to pursue a career in the arts. "I want to be in the music industry no matter what," he says. "I'd like to be a music producer, that is, if I'm not a musician for the rest of my life. Even if I decide to go into business or want to be a lawyer, I'm always going to be around music."