The saxophone is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to produce a sound wave inside the instrument's body. The pitch is controlled by opening and closing holes in the body to change the effective length of the tube. The holes are closed by leather pads attached to keys operated by the player. Saxophones are made in various sizes and are almost always treated as transposing instruments. A person who plays the saxophone is called a saxophonist or saxist.
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭, smaller than the B♭ tenor but larger than the B♭ soprano. It is the most common saxophone and is used in popular music, concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, military bands, marching bands, pep bands, carnatic music, and jazz.
Lawrence S. Gwozdz is an American classical saxophonist, composer, and former professor of saxophone at The University of Southern Mississippi. His successor is Dr. Dannel Espinoza.
The contrabass saxophone is the second-lowest-pitched extant member of the saxophone family proper. It is pitched in E♭ one octave below the baritone saxophone, which requires twice the length of tubing and bore width. This renders a very large and heavy instrument, standing approximately 2 metres tall and weighing around 20 kilograms (44 lb). Despite this, it was used in marching bands in the early 20th century.
Sigurd Manfred Raschèr was an American saxophonist born in Germany. He became an important figure in the development of the 20th century repertoire for the classical saxophone.
The Tiptons Sax Quartet, previously known as The Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, is a jazz saxophone quartet from Seattle, Washington. The ensemble consists of five members. The Tiptons are an internationally renowned saxophone quartet with drums, celebrating over 30 years as a band. Amy Denio is joined by co-leader Jessica Lurie, Sue Orfield, Tina Richerson and Robert Kainar from Salzburg, Austria. The Tiptons' material ranges from micro-Big Band to Gospel, Bluegrass to Balkan, whimsical Chamber Jazz, and nocturnal Funk to Free Jazz Improvisation using saxophones, clarinet, their voices, drums, and inventive percussion to create a genre-busting ‘world soul’ sound. The band takes its name in honor of Billy Tipton, a 20th-century professional saxophonist and transgender man who upon his death was revealed to have been assigned female at birth.
Patrick Meighan is an American saxophonist and educator who specializes in classical music, while also performing in jazz, rock, and pop styles. Meighan has been described in Musical America as "...most exceptional, with an otherworldly tone and fluid technique…"
Augusta Read Thomas is an American composer and University Professor of Composition in the Department of Music at the University of Chicago, where she is also director of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition.
Lee Patrick is an American classical saxophonist, saxophone teacher, scholar, arranger, and composer.
Harry Kinross White is an American-born classical saxophonist living in Switzerland.
The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet is a professional ensemble of four saxophonists which performs classical and modern music.
Ronald Caravan is an American classical musician. He is a clarinetist, saxophonist, teacher, composer, and arranger.
John-Edward Kelly was an American conductor and saxophonist.
Laurence Wyman is an American classical saxophone teacher who served many years as the professor of saxophone at the State University of New York at Fredonia in Fredonia, New York.
Doina Rotaru is a Romanian composer best known for orchestral and chamber works.
J. Ryan Garber is an American composer of contemporary (classical) music.
A saxophone quartet is a musical ensemble composed of four saxophones, typically soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. Different saxophone family members are employed to provide a larger range and a variety of tone colours. Other arrangements of instruments also exist, but are rarer. A piece of music composed for such an ensemble can also itself be referred to as a saxophone quartet.
Adriana Hölszky is a Romanian-born German music educator, composer and pianist who has been living in Germany since 1976.
The Clarinet Quartet, also known as Quartet for Clarinet and String Trio, is a work for clarinet, violin, viola, and cello by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. It was finished in 1993.
Gustav Bumcke was a German composer and founder of the first German saxophone orchestra.
