BIOGRAPHY
Erik Steighner has appeared as saxophone soloist with groups including the
Indiana University Symphonic Band, the Columbia Gorge Sinfonietta, the
University of Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra and the UPS Wind Ensemble.
He has performed with
ensembles including the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony,
the Tacoma Concert Band, and the Tipping Point Saxophone Quartet. He currently serves on the faculty at Texas
State University, maintains a teaching studio in the Austin
area, and is a composer and arranger of music for the saxophone and other mediums.
Steighner grew up near
Hood River, Ore., where
he studied saxophone with his father Mark and piano
with Linda Taylor. Steighner graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University
of Puget Sound with bachelor’s
degrees in music and English (both with honors). He completed his
master’s in saxophone performance at The University of Texas at Austin and
recently completed his doctorate in saxophone performance at UT, where he
also served for two years as the saxophone teaching
assistant. He studied with Harvey Pittel and appeared with UT
groups including the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, and Tex Sax (which he has also conducted).
During his undergraduate years,
Steighner studied saxophone with Robert Musser and Fred Winkler, conducting
with Musser and Christophe Chagnard, and voice with Thomas Goleeke. He
also performed
with numerous instrumental groups and served as bass section leader of the
Adelphian Concert Choir. In addition to his university studies,
Steighner has taken part in saxophone lessons and masterclassses with Jean-Marie Londeix,
Otis Murphy, Eugene Rousseau, and
John Sampen.
Steighner was a
winner of the UPS Concerto/Aria Competition, a finalist in the Young Texas Artists and UT
Chamber Music competitions, and the alternate winner of the Texas MTNA Young
Artist Competition. He is the
recipient of awards including university saxophone and voice scholarships,
the Jesse H. Jones and Mary Gibbs Jones Endowed Presidential Scholarship in
Fine Arts, the John Gravatt Art & Music Award, the Delwen and Genevieve
Jones Scholarship, the Paul Bellamy Music Scholarship, and the Cleone Soule
Music Scholarship. He has
also received non-musical accolades including the James R. Slater Award for
Academic Excellence, the Rosemary Van Arsdel, Sr. Professional Writing,
Rhetoric & Culture Prize, and was published as a "distinguished entry" in
the UPS eJournal of Economics.
Steighner has been
active in Northwest musical theater, taking the stage in a variety of shows
and playing in the pit for others, and was the assistant musical director
for a production at UPS. He is
a member of the North American Saxophone Alliance and
an alumnus of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia's
Epsilon Eta chapter, for which he served as Director of Musical Activities.
He has also appeared onstage with alternative rock band
Guster.
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