Drew Hays Biography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saxophonist Drew Hays has performed with noted artists such as Lou Rawls, Bernadette Peters, Al Martino, Larry Elgart, and Stephen Pollock, and with premiere ensembles including the Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the New Century Saxophone Quartet, the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, and the Roger Humphries Big Band. Drew has performed throughout the Eastern United States including at Lincoln Center, the Eastern Music Festival, the U.S. Navy Band’s International Saxophone Symposium, and the North American Saxophone Alliance bi-annual and regional conferences. He can be heard on saxophonist Stephen Pollock’s solo recording, “So Near, So Far,” produced by Branford Marsalis and released by Alana Records in 2005.

As a saxophonist, Drew has lived a dual-purpose life, having devoted equal amounts of time to jazz and classical studies and performance. As a founding member of the Affinity Saxophone Quartet, Drew was selected a winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Competition and semi-finalist at the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition. As a soloist, he was selected a winner of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Duquesne University concerto competitions. William Thomas Walker of The Classical Voice of North Carolina wrote of Drew as “playing with great breath control and phrasing with sensitivity. …his fingers coursed over the sax keys flawlessly.” His compositions and arrangements for big band have been performed and recorded by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Duquesne University Jazz Ensembles. Currently, he is working on several recording projects including an album of original compositions with his jazz quartet as well as a recording of unaccompanied works by J.S. Bach.

Drew recently completed a DMA in saxophone with a certificate in theory pedagogy from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he served as a graduate assistant for the jazz studies, saxophone, and theory departments. He also holds as a Master’s and Bachelor’s of Music from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. He currently serves as a part-time lecturer in music at Guilford College, where he teaches Jazz Appreciation and coaches the jazz ensembles. He previously held teaching positions at Duquesne University, Bucks County Community College, Westminster Conservatory, the Garden State Academy, and the Doylestown School of Music and the Arts. Drew is a member of the International Association for Jazz Education and the North American Saxophone Alliance.

Drew’s philosophy of teaching is “to teach my students how to teach themselves, and along the way inspire them to strive for the highest level of musical expression and artistry.”

Email: Haysa@guilford.edu

Phone: 336-316-2292