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Sasha Berliner is a musician, composer, producer, and band leader from San Francisco, CA.

Sasha moved to New York City in 2016 to attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, during which she also attended the Banff International Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music run by Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey. During her last two years at The New School, Sasha was also the first US recipient of the LetterOne “Rising Stars” Jazz Award, where she headlined 10 reputable jazz festival throughout the U.S. and Canada. Shortly after, she released her debut alternative jazz album, “Azalea”, which was nominated for JazzTimes 2019 Readers’ Poll’s “Best New Release”, featured by Jazz at Lincoln Center and the New York Times, and has been described by critics as “shimmering and thoughtful” (Kassel, TIDAL), “gleefully exploring various genres and headspaces” (Tremblay, CTEBCM).

Post graduation, Sasha’s music work remains primarily based in New York City. She has gone on to independently headline at venues like the NYC Winter Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, The Blue Note, Montreal Jazz Festival, and National Sawdust. She has been featured by The SF Jazz Education Center, PBS News Hour, NPR, and The New York Times for both her musicianship and her activism.

  In addition to performing internationally with her own project, Sasha Berliner Azalea, her recent notable performances and recordings have been with musicians such as Tyshawn Sorey, Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride, and Quincy Davis. She is an endorsing artist for Vater and Marimba One, and is a faculty member at the MalletLab percussion intensive, where she gives masterclasses and clinics. She has also lead masterclasses and Q&As at esteemed universities like MSU Denver and Berklee College of Music. She is represented by Knitting Factory Management and International Musician’s Network, a roster shared by artists such as Jason Moran and Brad Meldhau.

. Sasha was the 2020 Downbeat Critics’ Poll winner of the “Rising Star – Vibraphone” category. She was both the first woman, and at 21, was the youngest individual in the poll’s history to be granted the win. She was more recently voted in the top ten vibraphonists for the 2021 and 2022 Downbeat Reader’s Polls, sharing a list with vibraphonists such as Joe Locke, Stefon Harris, and Joel Ross. Sasha has commissioned works for Modern Marimba (Sarasota, FL) and the SWR NewJAZZ Meeting (Baden-Baden, Germany) as artist in residence for fall 2021.