A classically-trained saxophonist, Max Schwimmer channels instrumental virtuosity into a keen sense of musical exploration. Across klezmer, chamber music, jazz, and rock/pop settings, Max’s respect for stylistic traditions makes him a sought-after soloist and collaborator.
An innovative performer in Eastern European folk music styles, Max appears regularly with JFUNK and leads the Little Chef Klezmer Band. Max serves as Artistic Director of the Phoenix Yiddish Culture Festival, presenting its second edition in December 2025. The festival features local and nationally-touring guest artists and is supported by the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, ASU Jewish Studies, and the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix. In January of 2024, Max organized a multi-day artist residency with accordionist Christina Crowder, showcasing recently-discovered klezmer manuscripts from Ukraine. Max is the recipient of a 2024 Artist Opportunity Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, funding his study and performance of Balkan saxophone style and repertoire. Max has served on the music faculty at Paradise Valley Community College where he founded and directed the PVCC Klezmer Ensemble, the first of its kind at an Arizona academic institution. He is a new board member of the Klezmer Institute and will serve on faculty at the 2025 Yiddish New York festival.
Recent performance highlights include regular appearances with the Scottsdale Community College Jazz Orchestra and guest artists at The Nash, 2022-2024 seasons with Driftwood Quintet, a tour throughout Arizona and Mexico with JFUNK, Sedona VortiFest with The Bergamot, and shows with folk/rock groups led by Jon Rauhouse and Blaine Long. Max has performed in Ukraine with organist Elena Udras, Carnegie Hall with the Juilliard Orchestra under Marin Alsop, with the U.S. Coast Guard Band and Philadelphia's International Opera Theater, and in concerts at Boston Athenaeum, the Newport Music Festival, and the International Festival of Arts and Ideas as a founding member of the Asylum Quartet.
Max has worked with over 2,500 students in one-on-one saxophone lessons, educational workshops, and outreach concerts. His private students have placed into selective programs including the Greater Hartford Youth Wind Ensemble at The Hartt School, the Connecticut Music Educators Association's regional and all-state bands, and Interlochen Arts Camp. He has taught saxophone at Manchester Community College, Music and Arts East Hartford, South Windsor High School, and Camp Encore/Coda in Maine. He led the Instrumental Music program during the inaugural season of the URJ 6 Points Creative Arts Academy in Pennsylvania.
Max holds a Master's of Music from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford where he studied with Carrie Koffman. He completed a Bachelor of Music from Arizona State University's Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts School of Music in the studio of Dr. Timothy McAllister. He has completed additional studies in klezmer and Balkan style at international workshops and in private lessons with Christina Crowder, Zilyn Biret, Susie Evans, Ariane Morin, and Stojan Stojanov. Max also holds an MBA and works as a digital marketing manager.