2024 Guest Artists

Cassio Vianna

Cassio Vianna is a pianist, arranger, music educator, clinician, and an award-winning composer whose work reflects the broad range of musical and cultural influences he received during his years of training. 

Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Vianna started his music studies in classical music, while developing his skills as a composer and interpreter of popular music and Brazilian jazz. Between 1993 and 1995, Vianna studied under Hungarian teacher Ian Guest, who had a great impact on his decision to pursue a career as a composer.

​From 1996 to 2009, Vianna engaged in recording and performing projects in the Rio de Janeiro music scene, which included a successful career with the Brazilian jazz trio Dialeto Brasileiro. In 2009, Vianna moved to the U.S. to further his music studies. Cassio Vianna holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, a Master of Music degree from Western Oregon University, and a Doctor of Arts degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado.

Vianna’s arrangements have been performed by artists such as Chris Potter, Ernie Watts, Martha Reeves, Tony Kadleck, Greg Gisbert, Danny Gottlieb, Clay Jenkins, Brad Goode, the United States Army Field Band (Jazz Ambassadors), the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival All-Star Big Band, Chuck Owen’s Jazz Surge Band, the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra, and the UNC Jazz Lab Band I, among others. Vianna's compositional styles range from popular music and Brazilian jazz to classical chamber pieces and works for large jazz ensembles.

​Over the past 15 years, Vianna has been featured as an adjudicator, performer, and clinician at jazz festivals and conferences in Latin America and across the U.S. In recent years, he has presented clinics and lectures at the Jazz Education Network Annual Conferences, the Midwest Clinic, International Composers' Symposium, NAfME Northwest Conference, and the Washington Music Educators Association Conference. Vianna is also a very active clinician with high school and college bands. In 2015, he traveled to China to perform and to teach a two-week program at the Guangxi Arts Institute (Nanning Provence).

Cassio Vianna lives in Tacoma, WA, where he is the Director of Jazz Studies, Assistant Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University. Before his appointment at Pacific Lutheran University, Vianna was on the music faculties at Western Oregon University (Monmouth, OR) and Umpqua Community College (Roseburg, OR), and he also taught at the University of Northern Colorado as a graduate student. Between 2004 and 2008, while still living in Rio de Janeiro, Vianna taught at the Instituto Villa-Lobos and at several music academies.

Dr. JAy Easton

Jay C. Easton is a unique multi-instrumental performer who is skilled on an array of woodwind instruments from around the world and across the centuries. He is one of the few musicians in the world to perform on the entire saxophone family of instruments. At the Sax Institute, Jay will bring in virtually the entire playable family of the saxophone, from the tiny sopranino, to the hulking contra-bass saxophone and more!

Dr. Easton is the founder of the Brass Dragon Saxophone Band, Northstar Saxophone Quartet, and Crosswinds Duo. He has performed with the Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Lyric Opera San Diego, Spectrum Quartet, numerous professional musical theater productions, and many other large and small ensembles in both professional and educational settings. His pioneering CD "So Low" is the first album ever dedicated solely to the largest saxophones, and his book-and-CD "Writing for Saxophones" provide the first comprehensive guide to the complete range of the saxophone family for composers and performers. His solo performances feature rare and unusual reed instruments and their repertoire, with special emphasis on the saxophone family and the lower reeds.

Becky Swanson

Becky Swanson is a Seattle-based saxophonist and educator from the Chicago area, and a graduate of Lawrence University’s saxophone studio. As a saxophonist, Becky’s primary interest is in contemporary music that is both meaningful and relevant, and has worked directly with a variety of composers including Marcos Balter, Stacy Garrop, Gemma Peacocke, Daniel Whitworth, Zack Baltich, and Asha Srinivasan. As an artist and educator, she aims to aid in the development of cutting-edge repertoire for the saxophone that better reflects the current world in which we live. Throughout her time as a saxophonist and chamber musician, Becky has commissioned five original works for saxophone and chamber ensemble groups, and hopes to continue to commission classical works that further modern interest in classical music. As a chamber musician, Becky has played in more than 20 different groups throughout her career, currently playing with Seattle-based TMB Brass and moonlighting as a tin whistler playing Irish traditional music throughout pubs in the city. Becky is also a passionate educator, having worked with bands throughout Kent School District and Issaquah School District, teaching and inspiring new generations of musicians to bring about change through the mediums of art.

Peter Daniel

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.

KAte Olson

Kate Olson (KO SOLO) 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.

PAST GUEST ARTISTS

James Falzone

James Falzone will present on “the interplay between craft and imagination and how we can incorporate improvisation and creativity even into our most technical practice needs.”

Clarinetist, penny whistle player, composer, and improviser James Falzone is an acclaimed member of the international jazz and creative music scenes, a veteran contemporary music lecturer and clinician, and an award-winning composer who has been commissioned by chamber ensembles, dance companies, choirs, and symphony orchestras around the globe. He leads his own ensembles Allos Musica, Elaía Ensemble, Renga Ensemble, and the duo Wayfaring with Chicago bassist/vocalist Katie Ernst, and is a member of the Tapestry Voice Ensemble and Pneuma, a quartet with clarinetists François Houle, Michael Winograd, and Israeli vocalist Ayelet Gottlieb.

Wayne Horvitz

“Wayne Horvitz's music remains multifaceted and transportable, from the hinterlands of avant classical to down-home folksy charm, from small group getups to large-ensemble blowouts.”AllAboutJazz.com

During the Seattle Sax Institute, composer, bandleader and pianist Wayne Horvitz will bring in 2 original compositions re-scored for large saxophone ensemble. He will introduce the technique of “conduction,” a musical language which allows performers to reimagine what is on the written page, learn to flexibly improvise written material, and much more.

Wayne Horvitz is an American composer, keyboardist and record producer. He came to prominence in the Downtown scene of 1980s and '90s New York City, where he met his future wife, the singer, songwriter and pianist Robin Holcomb. He is noted for working with John Zorn's Naked City among others

Alex Dugdale

Alex Dugdale was adopted from Cali, Colombia and raised in Seattle WA. After graduating from Roosevelt High School in 2008, Alex studied saxophone performance at the Eastman school of music in Rochester NY. He returned to Seattle in 2013, forming his own jazz quintet and becoming a first call performer with many of Seattle’s finest bands including the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and The Seattle Symphony. Alex is also a passionate educator teaching both tap dance and music as a full time teacher and guest educator for the last decade. He currently teaches elementary band and orchestra for Seattle Public Schools and Tap Dance courses for the University of Washington dance department.

Soren hamm

Heard on the popular radio programs Performance Today and Northwest Focus Live, saxophonist Soren Hamm is a versatile musician, performing repertoire spanning the Renaissance through the Avant-garde. He is the first person to win both the solo and (with the Equus Saxophone Quartet) ensemble categories of the Frances Walton Competition, and was a winner of the Northwest MTNA Competitions on multiple occasions. Soren is passionate about chamber music, contemporary music, and outreach. With flutist Cassie Lear, he frequently performs as a member of the Seattle-based duo Onomatopoeia. He has premiered dozens of works for saxophone, and is currently involved in commissioning the first ever original repertoire for flute, saxophone, and horn. Soren graduated from the University of Oregon (B.M.) and Bowling Green State University (M.M.), and also completed study in music education at Western Washington University. His teachers include Idit Shner, Fred Winkler, and John Sampen.

Gary hammon

Born and raised in Seattle, Gary “Jubil” Hammon is one of a number of musicians from the area that have enjoyed a long and successful career in the performing arts. Gary began his study of the saxophone while a junior at Garfield High School. With diligent practice, he advanced rapidly on the instrument, and soon began playing in bands around the thriving Seattle music scene. With some encouragement from Jim Wilke, he applied for further musical study at the renowned New England Conservatory of Music. Awarded a scholarship, he began attending in 1969, the first year black students were accepted. While there he benefitted greatly while studying with Kenny Dorham, Mary Lou Williams, Carmen McRae and others. He also helped inaugurate the jazz studies program at the Conservatory in 1972, as part of Gunther Schuller’s ensemble. Impressing the likes of Isaac Stern and Arthur Fiedler, the program has been a success ever since.

Gary went on to establish himself on the jazz scene in Boston and New York, frequently filling in for Harold Vick before leading his own bands, becoming a regular at Wally’s in Boston and Manny’s Car Wash in New York. This led to working and touring with blues greats Albert King and Albert Collins, a long stint with Big Jim Patton’s band, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and further jazz work with Barbara Donald and Grant Green.

Still active as an educator, Hammon has been teaching saxophone and sharing his love of music for over four decades. As well as having tutored dozens of award-winning musicians, Gary has also worked closely with Ballard High School’s program in recent years, helping them become one of the region’s top programs and regular attendees of the prestigious Essentially Ellington competition held annually in New York City.

Recognition of Mr. Hammon’s legacy of connecting the jazz tradition with the current generation was recently showcased at the 2018 Earshot Jazz Festival. Leading the band “Last of the Tribe,” at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.

Sidney hauser

Sidney Hauser is a musician and artist from Whidbey Island. In June of 2016 she graduated from UW with a minor in music performance and a BA in fine arts. She is very musically involved in Seattle and plays in bands such as SWOJO, folk band High Turnover and her own band Schuff. She has been very fortunate to study under the tutelage of incredible musicians such as Neil Welch, Mark Taylor, Michael Brockman and Steve Treseler. She works as a teacher’s assistant and aftercare lead for Pacific Crest Montessori, a caregiver on the weekends and a freelance illustrator for a book educating children about Alzheimer’s. You can visit her website at sidneyhauserart.com.

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.

Amy Denio

Website / Video

Amy Denio is a Seattle-based multi-instrumental composer of soundtracks for modern dance, film and theater, as well as a songwriter and music improviser. Often called an unclassifiable avant-garde jazz musician, she is also deeply inspired by world music. She is probably best known as a vocalist, accordionist and saxophone-player. Among her current musical involvements are The Tiptons Sax Quartet (formerly The Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet) and Die Resonanz Stanonczi, a radical folk group based in Salzburg, Austria.

Tobi Stone

Video

Tobi Stone plays Saxophone, Clarinet, and Flute professionally and has maintained a private lesson studio for 16 years. She recorded, composed and toured internationally with The Tiptons Sax Quartet, 2002-2007, and nationally with the jazz group, Reptet, 2003-2007. Tobi has a Bachelor’s Degree from UW for Saxophone Performance, Emphasis in Jazz Studies and currently performs with The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, B'shnorkestra, The Jefferson Rose Band and Clave Gringa. 

Erik Steighner

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Praised by the Tacoma News Tribune for his “effortless lyricism” as well as his “smooth tone and fluid virtuosity,” Erik Steighner has performed with ensembles including the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the Federal Way Symphony, the Northwest Sinfonietta, the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra. Steighner has served on the faculty of Texas State University and is currently a lecturer at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., where his course load has included Saxophone, Chamber Music, Introduction to Music, Ear Training, and Music Theory. He is also on faculty at Tacoma Community College and the University of Puget Sound Community Music Department, and is founder and conductor of the South Sound Saxophone Ensemble. 

Christian pincock

Tom Varner

Jacob Zimmerman

Ivan Arteaga