About

Tyler is a saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger, who creates and enjoys music in a very broad range of styles and genres, and aims to blend all of his influences in what he produces today. From the age of 4, Tyler studied classical guitar at the Evergreen Academy in Baltimore, with Peabody Institute professor Zoë Stewart. Over the years he privately studied Bluegrass and Old-Time mandolin with Patrick McAvinue, upright bass with Alex Lacquement, and classical composition with John Haggerty. In high school, Tyler extensively studied Jazz, improvisation, and saxophone with Baltimore School for the Arts teacher Derrick Michaels. He also was mentored in a variety of traditional music styles and instruments with Old-Time fiddle master Rhys Jones, and currently performs with his trio on upright bass. Across this time, Tyler independently organized multiple recitals to showcase his varied and ever-growing musical range and repertoire. 

Through his studies at Berklee, Tyler met woodwind department professor Edmar Colón, and soon became his mentee, archivist, and assistant. Tyler has also studied with saxophonists Lauren Sevian, Godwin Louis, and Tony Malaby.

Since 2023, Tyler has also been a Core Music tutor at Berklee, choaching peers on all aspects of music theory, arranging, conducting, and more.

Tyler plans to complete his degree at Berklee and continue his studies in performance and composition at the graduate level, as well as continue bandleading his small and large groups in the Boston area.

photo by Jason White

After graduating from Loyola Blakefield High School in Towson, MD, Tyler moved to Boston to study saxophone performance and jazz composition at Berklee College of Music. There, he organized a 25-piece jazz orchestra which he co-leads with JEN showcase-winning composer and trumpet player Sylvia Khouri. This band, the Khouri/White Collective, is an outlet for Tyler’s original compositions and arrangements, and has performed and recorded multiple times at Berklee and in the greater Boston area.

He also began deeply studying jazz composition with faculty Randy Pingrey, Brian Landrus, Greg Hopkins, Bob Pilkington, and Ayn Inserto, and is one of the lead writers and players for Berklee’s Jazz Composers’ Workshop Orchestra big band. In 2024, he was awarded the Fletcher Henderson scholarship from the Jazz Composition Department. Greg Hopkins called him “a wonderful writer, player, and classmate. His work… is top-notch and always extra meritorious.” Randy Pingrey said that “[Tyler] gets it done, and done correctly. You couldn’t ask for a more resourceful, kind, and excellent student writer.”

photo by Efrain Ribeiro