Dr. Bob Eason
Hailed by Fanfare magazine for his “exceptional feel for elegance, wit… and tonal beauty,” Dr. Bob Eason is a saxophonist, educator, and clinician. He is Adjunct Instructor of Saxophone at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX where he prepares students of all backgrounds for careers in music.
Eason is in-demand as a soloist, with guest artist residencies at the 2020 Rio Winds Festival (Rio de Janerio), the 2019 XVIII Encuentro Universitario Internacional de Saxofón México (Mexico City), and the 2018 SaxoBang Festival (Taipei). An advocate of diversity in new music, Eason has commissioned works from Viet Cuong, Corey Dundee, Karalyn Schubring, Nina Shekhar, and Carlos Simon, among many others.
Eason is the soprano saxophonist and founding member of the Kenari Quartet, an ensemble that has garnered acclaim through engaging performances, festival and educational residencies, and commissioning projects. Among many competition wins, the Kenari Quartet won the 1st Prize in the inaugural M-Prize competition in 2016 and was awarded a prize of $20,000. In collaboration with the Naxos music label, the Kenari Quartet released the album French Saxophone Quartets, which contains many of the saxophone quartet’s most important compositions.
A native of Houston, TX, Eason founded the Young Saxophonist’s Institute and continues to teach summer camps in the Houston and Dallas/Ft. Worth areas for middle school and high school saxophonists. This year the Young Saxophonist’s Institute celebrated its 13th year in serving Texas middle school and high school students and is proud to have reached more than 650 saxophonists since its beginning in 2007.
Eason completed his doctorate and master’s degree at Indiana University, and he also has a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Houston. His primary teachers include Otis Murphy, Thomas Walsh, Dan Gelok, Valerie Vidal, Karen Wylie, Chris Patterson, and Theron Sharp.
Bob Eason is an Endorsing Artist for Légère Reeds and plays exclusively on the Signature Series reeds.