Teaching Artistry Careers: NEC Alumni Panel Discussion

Artist(s)

Alumni Panel

Alex Stening (’16 MM) is a hornist and pianist whose performance and teaching experience ranges from classical, jazz, improvisation and composition. Alex is a graduate of the New England Conservatory with a Master of Music Degree in music performance studying with Eli Epstein, former second horn of the Cleveland Orchestra and additional instruction with Hankus Netsky, co-chair of NEC’s Contemporary Musical Arts Department. As a horn player, Alex has performed with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, The Florida Orchestra and more. He spent previous summers attending the Aspen Music Festival and School and Eastern Music Festival. Alex has performed on piano in jazz clubs throughout New England and was featured as a guest artist on the sixth annual Gunther Schuller Legacy Concert in 2023. Alex is a dedicated teacher and enjoys a full schedule teaching private lessons at the John Payne Music Center and his own studio.

Aimee Toner (’22 MM) is a flutist and educator based in New Haven, CT. Toner has taught privately for over 13 years, and currently serves on the faculty rosters at the Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestra, Arts for Learning Connecticut, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School. Aimee is also the Flute Faculty at the University of Connecticut (UCONN) on the Storrs main campus and Eastern Connecticut State University. She holds an MM from the New England Conservatory and a dual BA from Barnard College of Columbia University. As a performer, she can be seen collaborating with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony and the Norwalk Symphony as a frequent flute/piccolo substitute player, performing recitals in her harp/flute ensemble Duo Brève with Mia Venezia (managed by the Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York), and performing weekly at Griffin Hospital as a musician in residence.

Martina Sabariego (’24 GC) is a composer, arranger, bassist, and classical guitarist from València (Spain). After graduating in Classical and Contemporary Composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona, Martina started playing the bass in 2020 at Sedajazz, an independent jazz collective from València, and in 2023 she started her graduate Jazz Composition Studies at the New England Conservatory of Music. Martina draws from a wide range of influences. Her universe is rooted in jazz music, enriched by her background in classical and contemporary music and in Valencian traditional music. After her first album “XANOXANO” (2023), Martina recently released “Forces and Battlements” (2025), her second album, performed by her own Boston-based jazz orchestra. This project was granted by the Entrepreneurial Musicianship Grant awarded by NEC, and it was published by Sedajazz Records.