Steve Madaio, trumpet player and Coachella Valley resident, served as a shining example of the way that brass can elevate contemporary pop music. Madaio arranged and played some of pop music’s most memorable horn parts, heard on legendary tracks such as “Sir Duke,” “September” and “Lovely Day.” 

Madaio loved the desert for its philanthropic element, so it is only fitting that today AMP announces the Steve Madaio Memorial Scholarship Fund for young brass players to attend the Academy of Musical Performance (AMP), a non-profit contemporary music performance program for young students in the Coachella Valley. 

Money from the Steve Madaio Memorial Scholarship Fund will help honor Steve’s contributions as a brass player to contemporary music by sponsoring and supporting an exceptional trumpet, flugelhorn, or brass player through AMP’s yearly programming. Other donations to this fund go towards assisting the tuition of AMP musicians who rely on Tuition Assistance to participate in AMP, in the pursuit of bringing horn section education to AMP’s existing band programming.