dedicated to promoting and preserving the very best of classical and contemporary saxophone literature
Our Composers
After a spending many years as a freelance bassist, composer/arranger, and producer in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kip Haaheim received his Bachelor’s degree from California State University, Hayward; his Masters degree in composition from the University of Minnesota; and his Doctorate in composition from the University of Arizona. His discography includes an eclectic mix of styles Jazz, World Music, Rock, and Avant Garde. These days he is primarily a composer on the faculty of the University of Kansas in Lawrence Kansas. Kip has far ranging interests in music composition and his work is a synthesis of eclectic influences from Olivier Messiaen and Georgy Ligeti to The Beatles, Trent Reznor, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
In recent years Kip Haaheim has specialized in the field of electro-acoustic music and sound design and is particularly interested in collaborative work. His 2002 Summit Records DVD release “Sacred and Profane” features digital music in full surround-sound audio with digitally processed video. Within the field of electro-acoustic music he is interested in using “real world” sound in unusual and innovative ways. Kip’s creative tendencies often involve multi-media and he has worked with numerous choreographers and other artists on productions with dancers and mixed visual media. He has also done music, audio, and sound design for interactive installations, live electro-acoustic performances, and internet-based “webcasts.”
He has had major works performed (or in the case of interactive work – installed) in San Francisco, Eugene, Houston, New York, Santa Fe, Kansas City, Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Austin and many other places in the United States. He has had works performed internationally in Lubeck, Toronto, Mexico City, Paris, and Tel Aviv.
He is currently an Associate Professor of Composition on the faculty at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS.
Drew Krause has written over 80 works for instrumental and electronic media. His music is published by Frog Peak and has been recorded by Innova, Capstone, New Ariel, Frog Peak, Pogus, and Bonk Records. He has received grants from Harvestworks, The MacDowell Colony, The Wurlitzer Foundation, and Meet the Composer, and residencies at Stanford University and Brooklyn College. He studied composition at Juilliard (MM) and the University of Illinois (DMA), was a founding member of the Thump Piano Duo, and is the author of the extensive Common Lisp Composer’s Library for algorithmic music composition. He lives and works in New York City.
Jonathan B. McNair’s music has been performed by members of the Cleveland Orchestra, Sirius Ensemble, Myriad Ensemble, Epicycle Ensemble, the Wichita New Music Ensemble, Spivey Hall Children’s Choir, the Smoky Mountain Chorale, Choral Arts of Chattanooga, as well as soloists and ensembles at June In Buffalo, universities, colleges, and churches around the country. He has also had performances in Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, and Puerto Rico. His music has been featured at the festival “A Little Now Music” at Brevard College. Dr. McNair is currently U. C. Foundation Associate Professor of Music Theory and Composition, Coordinator of Theory, and artistic director of the Contemporary Music Symposium at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
He has won affirmation from audiences and performers, and from critics in Fanfare magazine, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Buffalo News, the Chattanooga Free Press, and in the journals Worship and The Hymn. Organizations awarding him prizes and commissions include the American Composers Forum, Chattanooga Downtown Partnership, Chattanooga Clarinet Choir, Spivey Hall and the Athens YWCO, Allied Arts of Chattanooga, Chattanooga Symphony chamber players, Choral Arts of Chattanooga, and the Percussive Arts Society. McNair was twice chosen as composer-in-residence for the Viva Voce! Choral Camp, and was a participant in the Faith Partners residency program of the American Composers Forum. He has also served as resident composer for Ballet Tennessee, who commissioned, choreographed, and premiered five new works by him in their Millenium Nutcracker production.
McNair studied composition with Donald Erb, Sydney Hodkinson, and Scott R. Meister, at The Cleveland Institute of Music, Southern Methodist University, and Appalachian State University. He has participated in master-classes with internationally known composers including Jennifer Higdon, Nils Vigeland, Earle Brown, George Crumb, Richard Felciano, David Felder, Lukas Foss, Karel Husa, Philippe Manoury, and Bernard Rands.
