Dr. Steven Mauk has served as Professor of Saxophone in the School of Music at Ithaca College since 1975. He has presented numerous solo, chamber music, and concerto performances in such international locales as the United Kingdom, China, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, Canada, Russia, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Croatia, and Slovenia. His performances in the US have included those in New York City, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Atlanta, Boston, Washington, Cleveland, and Chicago. Mauk has given three recitals at Weil Hall (formerly Carnegie Recital Hall), a concerto presentation at Alice Tully Hall (NYC), four concerto performances with the United States Navy in Washington, DC, and concerto presentations in Russia and China.
One of the foremost authorities on the soprano saxophone, Mauk is often invited to present lectures, recitals, and articles dealing with this member of the saxophone family. He is a founding member of the chamber groups Empire Saxophone Quartet, Troica, Remeleixo, and Tango de Cámara. Thirty works have been dedicated to him by such composers as Dana Wilson, Graham Fitkin, David Kechley, Meyer Kupferman, Lawrence Weiner, Marc Satterwhite, Gregory Woodward, Peter Rothbart, and David Deason.
Mauk has recorded 20 albums, written over 100 articles, and authored four books. The latter includes Saxophone Warm- Ups (Dorn Publications), A Practical Approach to Playing the Saxophone (Lyceum Music), as well as Medici Masterworks for Alto Saxophone, Vol. II, and Medici Masterworks for Tenor Saxophone, Vol. II (Medici Music Press). He is also a contributing author to the recently published Vandoren Etude and Exercise Book for Saxophone (Vandoren). Mauk is an artist/clinician for both Selmer and Vandoren, and presents numerous sessions dealing with saxophone performance and pedagogy. In the US he has presented master classes at many major universities, including Indiana University, Michigan State University, University of Illinois, the New England Conservatory, Cincinnati Conservatory, North Texas University, Bowling Green State University and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. His European classes have been presented in cities including London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Pesaro (Italy), Zagreb (Croatia), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Moscow, and Beijing.
As an active member of the North American Saxophone Alliance, Mauk has held the offices of President and Director of Scholarly Publications. In 2012, he was elected an Honorary Life Member, the highest honor bestowed by this professional organization. He has received a Dana Teaching Fellowship and a Dana Research Fellowship at Ithaca College for his excellence in teaching and research, as well as an Ithaca College President's Recognition Award. Mauk was the recipient of the 1995-98 National Artist Award from the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and received Ithaca College's Excellence in Teaching Award for 2001-2002.
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Dr. Allison Dromgold Adams is pleased to return to Ithaca College as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Saxophone during Steve Mauk’s sabbatical leave. She graduated with a BM in music education and saxophone performance from Ithaca College and went on to receive her masters degree in saxophone performance from the University of Minnesota, where she studied with renowned saxophonist Eugene Rousseau. Adams recently completed her doctorate in saxophone performance at Arizona State University with saxophone virtuoso Timothy McAllister. She is also currently teaching at Cornell University as Visiting Lecturer of Saxophone.
Dr. Adams is an avid teacher and performer. While working on her doctoral degree, she headed an elementary and middle school band program in Scottsdale, Arizona. After moving back to Ithaca in the summer of 2012, she served on the faculty at Ithaca College’s Summer Music Academy, teaching both saxophone and yoga for musicians. Adams has recently been featured in recitals at Cornell University, Western Carolina University, and the Syracuse recital series, “Civic Morning Musicals.” In addition, she was a semi-finalist at the 2012 International Saxophone Symposium and Competition, and is a member of the Estrella Consort, a saxophone quartet based in the Phoenix area. With this group she has performed and presented master classes across Ecuador and competed at the 2012 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Adams is a certified yoga instructor and enjoys integrating this practice with music.
