biography

Nikita Sipiagin is a New York–born saxophonist, composer, and bandleader based in Basel, Switzerland. He comes from a musical family, with parents Alex Sipiagin and Monday Michiru, and grandparents Charlie Mariano, Lew Tabackin, and Toshiko Akiyoshi. He has also had the opportunity to perform with his father, Alex Sipiagin, as well as with his grandmother, NEA Jazz Master Toshiko Akiyoshi.

He began playing saxophone and soon after completed two years in the Jazz at Lincoln Center program. He continued his development through leading U.S. summer programs including the NYU Summer Jazz Program, Rutgers Summer Jazz Institute, Ithaca Summer Jazz Program, and the Interlochen Summer Jazz Program, and has performed internationally for several years with the JMI World Orchestra.

Since 2021, he has been studying at Jazz Campus Basel, where he is currently completing a Master’s degree in Performance and has studied with Dick Oatts, Mark Turner, and Chris Cheek. In 2019, he received the Mingus Competition Best Soloist Award, and has since shared the stage with artists and ensembles such as Dick Oatts, the Mingus Big Band, Ralph Bowen, and Sherman Irby.

In September 2025, he won the B Jazz Competition with his band Idle Moments, a project he leads and tours with. Alongside Idle Moments, he also tours with his own quartet projects, presenting original music rooted in the jazz tradition and shaped by an international perspective, lyrical storytelling, and deep ensemble interplay.