2024 Seattle Saxophone Institute faculty
Jessika Smith
(High School Camp)
Currently residing in Eugene, Oregon, Jessika Smith (Jessie Smith, formerly Jessika Leek) is a composer, saxophonist, and music educator. She is the director and coordinator of the Jessika Smith Big Band and the Eugene Composer's Big Band. Jessika plays frequently in Oregon and Washington with assorted jazz groups, including Torrey Newhart’s Obsidian Animals and the Emerald City Jazz Kings, and she currently teaches K-8 General Music and Band at Prairie Mountain School in the Bethel School District. The Jessika Smith Big Band's debut album, "Tricks of Light", was released with PJCE records on December 18, 2015.
During her time at UO (graduated 2014), Jessika played lead alto with the award-winning Oregon Jazz Ensemble, which toured Europe in the summer of 2014 and participated in the Montreux, Vienne, Umbria, and La Spezia Jazz Festivals. Jessika was a UO graduate teaching fellow whose duties included directing Jazz Lab 2 (big band), jazz combos, teaching private saxophone lessons, and being a teaching assistant in Jazz Performance Lab and Jazz History courses. She studied with Steve Owen (jazz composition/arranging) and Idit Shner (saxophone).
Jessika is also a graduate of Eastern Washington University with a BA and teaching certificate in K-12 Music Education. While working toward her undergraduate degree, she studied saxophone performance with Todd Delgiudice and music composition and arranging with Rob Tapper and Don Goodwin. She received the "Outstanding Undergraduate Jazz Award" both in 2009 and 2010, graduated magna cum laude, and received the honor of EWU's Frances B. Huston award in 2011.
Jessika's private students have won principal chairs in honors groups including the Washington All-State Wind Ensemble, participated in regional and state-wide solo contests, and have won music scholarships for college. While living in Spokane, Jessika was a director of the Spokane All-City Jazz Ensembles, which focuses on hands-on learning of the jazz language in a small group setting for the most talented students in the area.
Jessika has experience in many genres of music including jazz, classical, funk, rock, and Latin. She has accompanied jazz historian and saxophonist Carl Woideck in his Jazz Heritage series at the Shedd, occasionally plays and collaborates with the Portland Jazz Composer's Ensemble, plays in Spokane-based funk/jazz group Vinyl Butter, occasionally plays with Spokane-based Latin band Milonga, performs with the Kyle and Jessie Smith Duo and she was the youngest member of the Bob Curnow Big Band from 2008-2012, and she can be heard on Bob's studio recordings for Sierra Music Publishing Company. In the classical style, Jessika has won the regional solo and ensemble contest two times, and also won the gold medal at the Spokane Musicfest competition as the leader and soprano saxophonist of EWU's saxophone quartet.
Katyrose Jordan
(Middle School Camp)
Katyrose Jordan is a devoted music educator and multi-instrumentalist. She grew up on Whidbey Island amid its unique and flourishing musical community. She realized her lifelong passion of learning and sharing music beginning with violin at the age of three. She later found flute, saxophone, and the world of jazz which further ignited her inspiration. As an adopted person of color, music was a life-changing safe haven and creative outlet for her. Additionally, the many exceptional educators and mentors she learned from motivated her to follow in their footsteps to teach and empower others as she had been.
Katyrose graduated from the University of Washington with bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Jazz Studies. During this time, she also began singing and playing winds for an alternative-soul band called i///u, which went on to win various awards including the Earshot Jazz Award and play at Bumbershoot, Folklife, and Neumos. As both performer and teacher, she is ambitious, dedicated, and community-oriented. Her mission is to use her background and unique skill set to empower and enrich students’ lives socially, intellectually, and creatively through the transformative power of music.
Learn more: Website
Eric Patterson
(High School Camp)
After more than a decade of playing and teaching in Los Angeles, Eric Patterson recently relocated back home to Seattle. Since graduating from USC, Eric has pursued professional jazz and music education with equal passion. While in Southern California Eric directed the award-winning combos at Downey High School, and was on faculty with Children’s Music Workshop. Eric played saxophone in clubs, restaurants, and at weddings up and down the West Coast. Eric was the tenor saxophonist in James Gang, one of the most in-demand private event bands in the country. Eric also served as the music director and worship leader for City Light Church in Downtown Los Angeles.
Brian bermudez
(middle school camp)
Brian Bermudez has been a bit of a chameleon performing in many musical styles across the Puget Sound region for nearly two decades. A Magna Cum Laude graduate of Cornish College of the Arts majoring in Saxophone Performance, his time performing throughout the Seattle Music Scene has shaped his philosophy that quality music education should be accessible, engaging, and relevant to the student - that lessons learned while playing an instrument and performing with others bolsters lifelong skills that transcend music and enrich all areas of a student's life. Jazz, as a tradition, is built on mentorship and Brian honors this tradition through educational efforts as a clinician and with his work at Seattle JazzED.
Learn More: Website
Neil Welch
(Middle and High School Camps)
(Camp Co-Director)
“Combining mysticism with ferocity
”
Neil Welch is a performing artist and educator focusing on jazz, contemporary classical and improvised music on the saxophone. Whether you are a beginning student or a professional musician, there is a place for you here. Neil has over 15 years of experience as a private teacher, including public and private school classroom education, non-profit instruction for Seattle’s leading music education organizations, and college level instruction. He works to help students of all ages reveal and cultivate their artistic voice within. Neil believes strongly in the power of mentorship. He knows that private lessons provide students an opportunity to grow as artists and as people. Neil has a passion for teaching and community-building, and is dedicated to creating a vibrant, engaging environment for every member of his studio.
Neil holds a BM in Jazz Studies and Saxophone Performance from the University of Washington. He balances his life as a recording artist, local and national performer, one-on-one private instructor, and in-class community partner in music education. Neil was born in the Seattle area and participated in the Edmonds-Woodway High music program, where he participated in the famed Essentially Ellington contest in NY. From receiving his education in our region to becoming a sought after teacher himself, Neil is deeply involved in the vibrant Seattle arts culture. Neil is the recipient of several Golden Ear Awards for excellence in jazz performance, including NW Artist of the Year and NW Outside Jazz Group. He has released 7 solo records to date, with dozens of recorded collaborative appearances. He performs regularly on horns ranging from soprano to bass saxophone. Read more about Neil’s performance background here.
Neil encounters diverse student populations every day, and has an extensive background in a variety of music education settings. He is the saxophone faculty instructor at Cornish College of the Arts and the Lakeside School. He is the co-director of the Seattle Saxophone Institute, which is the northwest’s leading summer music camp for saxophone study. From 2007-2022, Neil was a faculty instructor for the non-profit Jazz Scholars program, which centers racial and gender equity as core pedagogical values.
Evan Smith
(Camp Co-Director)
Dr. Evan Smith is a versatile performer and dedicated educator whose work a spans many musical genres. His work encompasses the deep history of the saxophone and embraces his study of classical, improvised, and popular music styles. Evan brings this knowledge to the stage as both a skilled interpreter and fearless improviser. He is a passionate advocate for new music whose own works bring forth this diverse musical heritage while blurring the line between composition and improvisation.
Since moving to Seattle in 2011, Evan has centered himself as a focal point on the city’s musical landscape. Most visible performing on woodwinds as a founding member of the acclaimed Seattle R&B outfit The Dip, his recordings have been streamed millions of times through the group’s four studio albums. Evan’s travels with the band often total over fifty concerts annually while touring throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Highlights include famous venues like San Francisco’s Fillmore and the Blue Note Tokyo, notable festivals such as Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, and appearances on CBS Saturday Morning and NPR’s World Café.
Evan is also an avid participant in Seattle’s improvising and new music community. A longtime supporter of the storied Racer Sessions gatherings, Evan has been a frequent collaborator on new music and has curated the series several times premiering his own solo and ensemble works. He also regularly performs for the long-running Wayward Concert Series that focuses on modern and experimental music styles. More broadly, Evan’s stylistic flexibility often places him in diverse musical settings. His background in symphonic playing and theatre work has seen him perform with keystone Seattle ensembles such as the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, and Seattle Men’s Chorus. Evan is also a frequent clinician at area colleges and schools, and maintains a bustling roster of students in his Seattle teaching studio.
Learn More: Website
Past Seattle Saxophone Institute Coaches
Kate Olson
2023 High School Week
Kate Olson is an improvising saxophonist and woodwind teacher based in Seattle, WA. She can be heard performing with her own projects Syrinx Effect, KO SOLO, and the KO Ensemble and as a collaborator with Ask the Ages, the Seattle Rock Orchestra, the Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble and Electric Circus (led by Wayne Horvitz), the Seattle Jazz Composer's Ensemble and multiple other groups.
Kate has a BA in Music (Jazz Emphasis) from the University of Wyoming and an MM in Improvisation from the University of Michigan. Kate’s international resume continues to grow, including performances in Russia, Latvia, Turkey, Switzerland and Slovakia. She has appeared on stage with Terry Riley, Stuart Dempster, Pauline Oliveros, Allison Miller, Bobby Previte, Skerik, Patricia Barber and pop music icons Elvis Costello, Brandi Carlile, Sir Mix-a-lot and Big Star's Third (featuring members of REM, the Posies, and Nada Surf) among others. In 2011 and 2013, Kate was nominated for the Earshot Golden Ear Award in the Emerging Artist category, and in 2014 she was nominated for the Best NW Instrumentalist Category.
Dr. Idit Shner
“Extraordinarily Fine Playing”
An active performer of both jazz and classical music, Idit Shner has played in various distinguished venues in the United States and abroad, such as The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Lincoln Center in New York.
As a classical saxophonist Idit has commissioned and recorded new music and performed solo recitals in the US and Israel. Her fifth CD, Minerva, will be released in 2019; Her third CD, Le Merle Noir, featuring music by Messiaen, Bozza, Partos, and Glass, was released on Origin Classics in August 2013. Her previous classical recording, FISSURES: 20th Century Music for saxophone and Harp with renowned harpist Yumiko Schlaffer, received great acclaim and was played on NPR's All Things Considered. Idit has collaborated with Fireworks, Beta Collide and Third Angle (new music ensembles), and performed with the Oregon Symphony and the Eugene Symphony. Other appearances include CBDNA, the Northwest Percussion Festival, Electronic Music Midwest, the Oregon Bach Festival, and many North American Saxophone Alliance Conventions. During March 2006 she played in Israel as a featured soloist with a symphonic orchestra, and performed contemporary music at the national convention of the Society for Electro Acoustic Music in the US. Her last solo recital in Israel was broadcasted live on Voice of Music, a national public radio station.
As a jazz saxophonist, Shner performed at the Diet Coke Woman in Jazz Festival (NY), Bellayre Festival (NY), and New-Trier Jazz Festival (IL); toured with pianist Jangun Bae in Korea and Japan; and continues to perform with her jazz quartet in the Pacific Northwest. Her jazz debut, Tuesday’s Blues, was released on OA2 Records and received great reviews from Jazz Times, All Music Guide, and Jazz Review. Her second jazz recording, Nine Short Stories, received a four-star review from Downbeat and excellent radio airplay.
Idit serves as Associate Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies at the University of Oregon. She was recently awarded two prestigious teaching awards: The 2015 Thomas F. Herman Award for Excellent in Pedagogy in areas of saxophone technique and chamber music coaching; and the 2016 University of Oregon Faculty Excellence Award. Her students consistently win Concerto Competitions as well as Downbeat magazine awards. She is a sought-after clinician, who taught numerous master classes throughout the USA and Israel
Steve Treseler
Steve Treseler is a Seattle-based saxophonist, composer, teaching artist, and author who performs and leads creative music workshops across the U.S. DownBeat calls his music “beautifully crafted ensemble pieces—whether free, through-composed, or somewhere in between.” Steve’s voice as an improviser and composer blends distinct, yet confluent elements: straight-ahead jazz, Impressionism, minimalism, drones, alternative rock, American folk, electronic effects, and the avant-garde.
Treseler grew up in the midst of Seattleʼs grunge scene before moving to Boston to pursue his studies on scholarship at New England Conservatory, where he studied with jazz legends Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Brookmeyer, George Garzone, and Steve Lacy, He holds a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies and Improvised Music from the University of Washington where he worked with avant-garde trumpeter Cuong Vu
Creative music education is an integral part of Steve’s ongoing work. He is the founder of the Game Symphony Workshop, offering group improvisation workshops for ensembles. Steve teaches at Seattle Pacific University and designed an improvisation course that is part of the school’s core music curriculum.
Mark Taylor
“One of Seattle’s Finest Young Musicians”
Mark Taylor is one of the most in demand saxophonists in the Pacific Northwest. A Seattle native and resident, Mark’s personal sound and style are a fixture on the local jazz scene and have given him opportunities to perform for audiences all over the United States and Japan. Widely respected as a unique and creative improviser, an impeccable ensemble player, and for his stylistic versatility, Mark was honored as “NW Jazz Instrumentalist of 2008” by Earshot Jazz Magazine. Mark performs and records extensively with such diverse and award winning groups as Matt Jorgensen +451, Jim Knapp Orchestra, Frieze of Life, Victor Noriega Trio + 2, Tom Varner’s Tentet and Quintet, Thomas Marriott, Wayne Horvitz, Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, and the Randy Halberstadt Quintet. Outside of these ongoing projects, he has also appeared locally with legends such as Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, and Ernestine Anderson, current headliners in jazz such as Sam Yahel and Maria Schneider, appearances with the Seattle Symphony and Pacific Northwest Ballet, and many more.
As a leader, Mark has released two critically acclaimed CDs on Origin Records: “After Hours” (2002), and “Spectre” (2009) which was named “NW Jazz Recording of 2009” (Earshot Jazz).
As an educator, Mark has a full studio of private students and is a highly sought after guest artist and clinician for festivals, workshops, and clinics throughout the region. He holds a BM from the University of Washington (1994), and MM from the Manhattan School of Music (2000) in New York City where his performance credentials include appearances with the Grammy Award winning Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
Peter Daniel
““…a booty-shakin’ set full of horns and electrifying vocals.”
(Peter Daniel, 45th Street Brass)”
Peter Daniel is a Seattle-based saxophonist and composer. He is the leader of 45th St Brass and member of the popular electro-swing band Good Co. As a sideman, Peter’s credits include ODESZA, Father John Misty, and members of Snarky Puppy and Ghost Note. Peter’s writing for 45th St Brass has been called “extremely sophisticated and avant-garde, yet very catchy and appealing” and in 2017 he was commissioned to compose a piece for a chamber ensemble by UNICEF for their Seattle fundraiser. He is also a very active and in-demand clinician, presenting improvisation and New Orleans style jazz to students of all ages. Although he plays a wide variety of styles, he specializes in funk, soul, and jazz.