*CANCELED* Saxophones on Saturday: Guest Artist Carrie Koffman

Carrie Koffman Associate Professor of Saxophone, The Hartt School of Music
Saturday, February 5, 2022

12:00 - 3:00 PM
Harkness Chapel, 11200 Bellflower Road
Free and Open to the Public

Carrie Koffman

Associate Professor of Saxophone, The Hartt School of Music
Lecturer of Saxophone, Yale School of Music
 

Greg Banaszak

Saxophone Faculty, Cleveland Institute of Music
 

Eric Charnofsky

Pianist, Senior Instructor, Case Western Reserve University
 

Master Class and Recital with special guest artist Carrie Koffman. Performances by members of the CWRU Saxophone Studio directed by Greg Banaszak. This event has been generously sponsored by Conn-Selmer and Vandoren

Increasing COVID-19 cases within Northeast Ohio have prompted Case Western Reserve University to resume its requirement that masks be worn indoors. In addition, only those who are fully vaccinated (two weeks past their final dose) should attend any campus event. Leaders continue to monitor pandemic developments and may need to adjust health protocols further as circumstances warrant. In-person is subject to change based on COVID-19 guidelines.


Carrie Koffman is Associate Professor of Saxophone at The Hartt School of Music, Dance and Theater at the University of Hartford and Lecturer of Saxophone at the Yale School of Music. Prior to this, she held positions as Assistant Professor of Saxophone at Penn State University, Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the University of New Mexico, and Lecturer at Boston University. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in 30 states, 1 federal district, 17 countries and on 5 continents. Commissions and premieres include 68 compositions. One review in Fanfare Magazine calls her playing “suave, subtly nuanced, and technically secure in its every gesture,” while another refers to her “melting tone and touching sensitivity.” Music Web International describes her as “brilliant and dauntless.” She also has an ongoing recording and performing series with the tongue-in-cheek title Pink Ink that is dedicated to promoting the music of living women composers. She is a founding member of the Committee on the Status of Women+ of the North American Saxophone Alliance and is the project manager for CSW+’s Community Engagement Initiative.

In addition to traditional performance spaces, Koffman enjoys bringing live music to unexpected places. She recently hiked the Camino de Santiago across northern Spain, sharing impromptu performances of Bach in 33 different cathedrals and churches along the historic medieval route. In this way, she was able to reach people from all over the world in contemplative spaces while they made their own pilgrimages. Current projects include site specific performances of repertoire commissioned for those spaces.

Koffman's saxophone students have placed in over 130 different performance competitions including winning 24 university concerto competitions at all five of the universities where she has taught. The careers of her alumni are varied, ranging from university professors, premiere military band musicians, performers (including one who has been on five Grammy nominated albums), acoustical engineers, elementary, middle and high school music educators, a Big Ten marching band director, freelance musicians, musical theater pit orchestra performers both on and off Broadway, recording engineers, professional orchestra administrators, private studio teachers, composers, community ensemble conductors, music librarians, a full time Disneyland musician, and a full time member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

She is a founding faculty member of the American Saxophone Academy, an annual educational program designed for advanced college students and beyond. She also formerly taught saxophone for the All-State Program at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and was the Director of Bands at Belleville South Middle School in Belleville, Michigan. Koffman holds a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan and a masters degree from the University of North Texas. Her primary mentor is Donald Sinta.

Koffman is a certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher and teaches Yoga for Performers. She is also a Selmer Paris and Vandoren performing artist.