Rocky Mountain Saxophone Summit
Colorado State University hosts the return of the Rocky Mountain Saxophone Summit, featuring professors and students from Front Range universities in clinics, masterclasses, and performances. Free and open to the public, the Summit is a great opportunity for saxophonists of all ages and levels to learn about the technical and expressive aspects of playing and practicing, while also listening to great performances from top-notch professionals from around the region. We hope you will join us for this special event!
The Summit Potpourri Concert is at 5 p.m., Organ Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.
Guest Artists and Clinicians
Andrew is a concert saxophonist, jazz improviser, and teacher. He has been featured as a guest artist and performer across the United States and East Asia, joining such distinguished ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Capitol Saxophone Quartet, and the Gangnam Symphony in Seoul, South Korea. He has also served as a guest artist and frequent performer at the Aspen Music Festival.
Andrew has degrees in music and music education from the University of Michigan and a Doctorate in Music from the University of North Texas. His primary saxophone teachers were Larry Teal, Donald Sinta, Eugene Rousseau, and Jim Riggs. Andrew studied jazz improvisation with Tim Ries and clarinet with Andy Crisanti.
Dan Goble currently serves as the director of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo. Previous to his appointment at Colorado State University (CSU), Dr. Goble served as the dean of the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Conn., where for 21 years his leadership roles also included chair of the Department of Music and coordinator of Jazz Studies. During his tenure at Western Connecticut State University (WCSU), Dr. Goble provided leadership for curricular and programmatic changes that affected positively the School of Visual and Performing Arts (SVPA) and the university, most notably the planning and construction of an award-winning $97 million instructional and performance facility, which opened in 2014.
An arts administrator who is also an active performer, Dr. Goble has performed with the New York Philharmonic for over 16 years, and has been featured with the orchestra as the saxophone soloist on Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and Ravel’s Bolero, among other works. In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Dr. Goble has performed with the New York City Ballet, The American Symphony Orchestra, The Mariinsky Orchestra, the New York Saxophone Quartet, and the Harvey Pittel Saxophone Quartet.
Committed to recording and promoting contemporary works for the saxophone, his critically acclaimed CD Freeway, includes significant compositions by Pulitzer Prize winning composers Charles Wuorinen and John Harbison (CRI 876). His recording of Quartet, Opus 22, by Anton Webern, conducted by Robert Kraft, is available on the Naxos label, and his most recent project with pianist Russell Hirshfield, Mad Dances, American Music for Saxophone and Piano (Troy 1251), features the music of David Diamond, William Albright, David Del Tredici, Libby Larsen, and Kevin Jay Isaacs.
On the international stage, Dr. Goble has toured extensively with the New York Philharmonic, including the historic visit to North Korea in 2008, as well as recent tours to Europe, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. He was a featured performer at the 2004 Thailand International Saxophone Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, and has performed recitals in Japan, China, and in Europe. He was the First Prize-winner at the 1993 Louise D. McMahon International Competition, and has won or placed in numerous other prestigious competitions, including, the Concert Artist Guild International Competition, the Ima Hogg International Young Artist Competition, and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.
Dr. Goble received his Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and his Bachelors degrees in Saxophone Performance and Music Education from the University of Northern Colorado. Recently, he was named distinguished alum of Casper College in his hometown of Casper, Wyoming. His saxophone teachers include Roger Greenberg, Thomas Kinser, Harvey Pittel, and Albert Regni.
Dan Goble is a D’Addario performing artist.
Briana Harris is a musician, artist manager, and creative entrepreneur with a focus on empowering creatives to do their best work. A versatile creator and collaborator, Bri has credits as a saxophonist, singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, and composer. Her debut album as a solo artist, When We’re Found, released Fall 2022, and contains 10 songs that explore personal stories and venture through an eclectic set of style and genre influences.
Briana owns and operates Harris Artist Management, a full service management roster serving public visual artists. She is an in-demand clinician and educator with expertise in jazz performance and improvisation, music business, and arts administration. Briana is a voting member of the Recording Academy. She holds a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado, and an undergraduate degree in Jazz Studies from The University of Alabama. She is especially passionate about career planning and development for young musicians, and she is available for private lessons, masterclasses, and public talks for students of all ages and abilities.
Mark Harris is currently the Associate Professor of Studio Saxophone at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
After brief distractions of basketball and tennis in high school (Go Pomona Panthers!!), Mark found his way to the saxophone and music at CU in Boulder. After completing a Master of Music degree from the University of Colorado, in 1988, he has worn many musical hats, from backing national and international artists including Bob Hope, Cab Calloway, George Shearing, and Roger Waters, to working with original music bands in Afro-Pop, Electronic, Big Band, Avant Garde, Art Rock, Classical Chamber, Children’s Music, and other uncategorizable styles.
Mark has been a passionate studio teacher for over 30 years, his most prominent former student is Rudresh Mahanthappa – 2011, and 2012 DownBeat Critics Choice Alto Saxophone Player of the Year. Mark plays and teaches saxophones, clarinet, and flute. In addition to his duties at Metro State, he maintains a private studio through several area music stores. For fun, he cooks, cycles quite a bit, reads, and is the resident's lap for Brt the cat.
Lucas Hopkins is quickly becoming known as a prominent soloist, chamber musician and educator comfortable in a variety of styles. As a performer and educator, Lucas has presented guest recitals and masterclasses at various universities, was invited to serve as the saxophone clinician at Clínicas Instrumentales de UNIBAC in Cartagena, Columbia, has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Oakland Symphony, and has performed with various orchestras including the New World Symphony and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. Additionally, as the bass saxophonist of The Moanin’ Frogs Saxophone Sextet, Lucas frequently performs across the country for various concert series and engages in educational outreach with students of all ages.
In addition to currently serving as the Interim Lecturer of Saxophone at The University of Colorado, Lucas teaches saxophone at Austin Peay State University and Tennessee State University. Lucas holds a DMA from the University of Colorado and additional graduate degrees from the University of Michigan and Northwestern University. His primary teachers include Timothy McAllister, Eugene Rousseau, Tom Myer, and Andrew Bishop. Lucas is an endorsing artist for Conn-Selmer, D’Addario Woodwinds, and Key Leaves.
Saxophonist Peter Sommer has contributed his energetic and graceful playing and creative spirit to a wide variety of musical projects ranging from mainstream bebop to classic and contemporary concert music to avant-garde improvisations at venues across the nation and around the world.
Peter Sommer is Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins and serves as the Woodwind Area Coordinator for the School of Music, Theatre and Dance. He is a D’Addario Woodwinds Artist and performs exclusive on Select Jazz and Reserve Reeds on all of his instruments.
Composer and saxophonist, Wil Swindler currently resides near Denver, Colorado, where he leads Wil Swindler's Elevenet, the modern bop quintet GoodRattle, and serves as musical director for vocalist Barron Steffen. He is a performer and contributing composer with Raincheck, the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra, the 9th+Lincoln Orchestra, the Colorado Jazz Orchestra, Manny Lopez's Latin Jazz Project, and the Legacy Jazz Orchestra. He also performs with the Colorado Symphony, the Fort Collins Symphony, and the Boulder Philharmonic, as well as playing productions at both the Buell Theatre and the Arvada Center for the Arts. In addition to receiving IAJE's Gil Evans Fellowship for 2008, Wil has completed numerous commissions from military bands, local orchestras, and big bands around the world. His most recent commission was premiered at the 1st China Drum Summit in Beijing, China in 2013. Wil has two CDs available under his own name, Universe B (OA2 Records 2010) and Chamber Jazz Ensemble (NohJoh Music 2006), and can be heard on numerous other albums including Steve Owen's Stand Up Eight, Al Hood/Dave Hansen's You're It, and Manny Lopez's Searching Out. His most recent recording project was The Right Riot with his quintet, GoodRattle, released in 2014.
As an educator, Wil is in demand as a saxophone and jazz clinician and joined the music faculty at Colorado State University as a jazz instructor in 2009. He is currently the coordinator of Jazz Studies and director of Jazz Bands at CSU. He is a frequent adjudicator for high school and college jazz festivals around the country and maintains a private saxophone/composition studio in the Denver area. Wil has served as an adjunct saxophone teacher and Jazz Ensemble director at Denver University, instructor at the University of Northern Colorado, composition teacher for the Colorado Conservatory of the Jazz Arts, faculty at the Yellowstone Jazz Camp, as well as the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Camp, and the Rocky Mountain Summer Music Camp.
Originally from Central Texas, Wil began studying music at age five, and picked up the saxophone at age nine. He earned a B.M. in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas in 2001 where he played in, composed for, and recorded with the 1:00 Lab Band. In 2000 he attended the Henry Mancini Institute on a full scholarship from BMI, and received a commission the following year from HMI for a piece premiered at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. In 2001, Wil relocated to New York City, where he played with Toshiko Akiyoshi and Bill Warfield's NY Fusion Ensemble, among others. During his time in N.Y., Wil studied saxophone with Dave Pietro and composition with Michael Abene and Jim McNeely as a member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. In 2003, he returned to his hometown of Austin, Texas, where he co-founded the 10-pc Chamber Jazz Ensemble and served as musical director for vocalist Kevin Ahart. Mr. Swindler has lived in Longmont, Colorado since 2006 with his wife April Johannesen, and daughter Annika.
Originally from Rochester, New York, Jennifer Turpen completed her B.M. in Music Education from the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, New York. She finished the M.M. and D.M.A. in Saxophone Performance at the University of Georgia where she studied saxophone with Kenneth Fischer.
Dr. Jennifer Turpen has performed throughout the United States as a soloist and in various quartets. Dr. Turpen currently serves as on the music faculty at the University of Wyoming. Her responsibilities include serving as the Undergraduate Advising Coordinator, teaching undergraduate and graduate written theory, saxophone lessons and quartet.
Registration
So that we can be prepared for the event, please let us know if you are attending by filling out the following registration form. Registration is also available at the door.
Past Guest Artists
New Third Stream Quartet featuring Rick VanMatre and James Bunte from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Jim Romain from Drake University
Debra Richtmeyer, University of Illinois
Zach Shemon, University of Missouri - Kansas City
Art Bouton, University of Denver
Peter Sommer, Colorado State University
Wil Swindler, Colorado State University
Scott Turpen, University of Wyoming
Mark Harris from Metropolitan State University
Dates
Saturday, March 4, 2023
9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Organ Recital Hall, Runyan Rehearsal Hall, and Instrumental Rehearsal Hall
Throughout the day: Eastman Saxophones and Shawna's Repair Shop exhibiting in the Instrumental Rehearsal Hall!
9-9:50 a.m.
- Presentation: Lucas Hopkins, CU – Commissioning New Works for Saxophone, Room 158
- Presentation: Dan Goble, CSU – Double Tonguing Techniques, Room 142
10-10:50 a.m.
- Presentation: Jennifer Turpen, UW – Practical Applications for Music Theory in Your Saxophone Literature, Room 158
- Presentation: Mark Harris, MSU – Vibrato: Style and Application, Room 142
11-11:50 a.m.
- Presentation: Briana Harris – Envisioning Your Career in the Arts, Room 158
Noon
- Visit Eastman Saxophones and Shawna's Woodwind Shop in the Instrumental Rehearsal Hall
1-2:30 p.m.
- Jam Session: Hosted by Wil Swindler, CSU, Organ Recital Hall
- Masterclass: MSU students with Dan Goble, CSU, Room 142
2:30-3:20 p.m.
- Masterclass: CSU students with Jennifer Turpen, UW, Runyan Rehearsal Hall<
- Masterclass: CU students with Mark Harris, MSU, Room 158
3:30-4:20 p.m.
- Masterclass: UNC students with Lucas Hopkin, CU, Runyan Rehearsal Hall
- Masterclass: UW students with Peter Sommer, CSU, Room 158
5-6:30 p.m.
- Potpourri Recital, Organ Recital Hall – Featuring Andrew Dahlke, Dan Goble, Mark Harris, Lucas Hopkins, and Peter Sommer
Contact

Peter Sommer
- Professor of Music
- Saxophone, Chamber Music, Jazz Studies
- Director of the Department of Music