Rhonda Taylor is a saxophonist dedicated to the creation of meaningful sonic art of our time. Dr. Taylor has served on faculty at New Mexico State University since 2003, where she is the College Associate Professor of Saxophone and Music Theory. Early in her career, she was focused on generating new music for the saxophone through the process of seeking out and collaborating with unique modern composers. She has commissioned, premiered, and/or recorded music by Chris Arrell, Rick Burkhardt, Ben Leeds Carson, Michael Colgrass, Nathan Davis, Ben Grosser, Jeffrey Mumford, Bernard Rands, Justin Rubin, Avi Tchamni, and more. Other activities include lecture recitals on Gérard Grisey’s Anubis et Nout at institutions in the U.S. and abroad, and performances at new and experimental music festivals throughout the United States.

In recent years, Taylor has chosen to develop her own creative voice through the art of free improvisation. Her improvisatory work is focused primarily on exploring the parameters of sound and perception. Her work is concerned with varying states of activity and intelligibility, of evoking a particular experience for the listener using both traditional and extended techniques on the saxophone. Although she often performs solo, she has also had the pleasure of improvising with such diverse artists as Jaap Blonk, Kyle Motl, Chris Icasiano, Tara Khozein, Tatsuya Nakatani, Ron Stabinsky, Assif Tsahar, Mark Weaver, and Neil Welch. Her solo albums (Audition, Interstice, Nocturne, Necropolis, NTH Volumes One, Two, Three, Afterparty, and chaos theory) are available on Bandcamp and most other online music distributors. Collaborative recordings City of Rocks (with Tatsuya Nakatani, percussion) and Sepulchers (with Kyle Motl, bass), can also be found on Bandcamp.

She completed her B.M. and D.M.A. at the University of Arizona, where studied with Michael Hester and Kelland Thomas. She earned her M.M. as a graduate assistant of John Sampen at Bowling Green State University. Her additional studies include performances in master classes held by Fred Hemke and Eugene Rousseau, as well as attending Domaine Forget Music Academie to study with Jean-Marie Londeix and Jean-François Guay. In 2002, she was awarded a scholarship to the International Clarinet and Saxophone Connection held at New England Conservatory, where she studied with Arno Bornkamp, Jean-Michel Goury, and Kenneth Radnofsky. Rhonda Taylor is a Conn-Selmer artist and plays on Selmer Paris saxophones exclusively. For more information, click here.
For recent reviews of Dr. Taylor’s work, click here.