Susan Fancher is one of the pioneers of her generation of saxophonists.  Her work has produced dozens of commissioned works by contemporary composers, as well as published transcriptions of music by composers as diverse as Josquin Desprez and Steve Reich.  Her career has featured hundreds of concerts internationally as a soloist and as the member of chamber music ensembles, including the Red Clay, Amherst, Vienna and Rollin' Phones saxophone quartets.  A sought after performer of new music, she has worked with a multitude of composers including Terry Riley, Charles Wuorinen, Philip Glass, Hilary Tann, Friedrich Cerha, M. William Karlins, Mark Engebretson, Ben Johnston, Ed Campion, Perry Goldstein, Olga Neuwirth, Stuart Saunders Smith, David Stock, Michael Torke, Robert Carl, Reginald Bain, Judith Shatin, James Paul Sain and Alejandro Rutty, just to name a few.

 

Current projects include new concertos for soprano saxophone and orchestra by Hilary Tann and Mark Engebretson, a new CD release In Two Worlds featuring exciting new music for saxophone and electronics, and a program together with Inara Zandmane of duos for saxophone and piano by American composers.

 

Susan Fancher has performed in many of the world's leading concert venues and contemporary music festivals including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the Amphitheater at the Chautauqua Institution, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Vienna's Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Filharmonia Hall in Warsaw, Orchestra Hall in Malmö, Sweden, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and at ISCM festivals in Albania and Bulgaria, the Gaida Festival in Lithuania, June in Buffalo, the North Carolina Computer Music Festival, the Festival of New American Music, the Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Hörgänge and Wien Modern Festivals in Vienna, and on CBS Sunday Morning.  Tours have taken her to Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and throughout the US.

 

Susan Fancher has recorded over 10 CDs available on the Philips, New World Records, Lotus Records Salzburg, Extraplatte and Innova labels.  Her first solo recording Ponder Nothing, released in 2002 on the Innova label, features her composer-approved arrangements of music by Steve Reich and Ben Johnston.  Her newest CD In Two Worlds features music by John Anthony Lennon, James Paul Sain, Mark Engebretson, Reginald Bain, Judith Shatin, Morton Subotnick and Edmund Campion.

 

Susan Fancher is a regularly featured columnist for the nationally distributed Saxophone Journal.  She holds the Médaille d'Or from the Conservatoire of Bordeaux, France, and the Doctor of Music in saxophone performance from Northwestern University, for which her dissertation topic was the saxophone music of Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988).  Her principal teachers were classical saxophone masters Frederick Hemke, Jean-Marie Londeix and Michael Grammatico, and Chicago jazz legend Joe Daley.  Susan Fancher is a clinician for the Selmer and Vandoren companies and teaches saxophone at Duke University .

 

Susan Fancher’s work to develop the repertoire for the saxophone has produced dozens of commissioned works by contemporary composers, as well as published transcriptions of music by composers as diverse as Josquin Desprez and Steve Reich.  Her career has featured hundreds of concerts internationally as a soloist and as the member of chamber music ensembles, including the Red Clay, Amherst, Vienna and Rollin’ Phones saxophone quartets.  A much sought-after performer of new music, she has worked with a multitude of composers including Terry Riley, Charles Wuorinen, Philip Glass, Hilary Tann, Friedrich Cerha, Ben Johnston, Mark Engebretson, M. William Karlins, Stuart Saunders Smith, Perry Goldstein, Olga Neuwirth, Judith Shatin, James Paul Sain, David Stock, Ed Campion and Robert Carl, and has performed in many of the world’s leading concert venues and contemporary music festivals.  Susan Fancher is a regularly featured columnist for the nationally distributed Saxophone Journal and an artist for the Selmer and Vandoren companies.  She is on the faculties of Duke University.

 

Very Short Bio:

Susan Fancher is one of the pioneers of her generation of saxophonists.  Her work to develop the repertoire for the saxophone has produced dozens of commissioned works, as well as published transcriptions of music by composers as diverse as Josquin Desprez and Steve Reich.  A much sought-after performer of new music, she has worked with a multitude of composers and has performed in many of the world’s leading concert venues and contemporary music festivals.  Susan Fancher is a regularly featured columnist for the nationally distributed Saxophone Journal and an artist for the Vandoren and Selmer companies.  She teaches saxophone at Duke University.