Clinician Detail

Nathan Mertens - Biographical Information

American saxophonist Nathan Mertens currently teaches at the University of Colorado Boulder. For Mertens, teaching the next generation of musicians is a great honor, and he is constantly reshaping the ways he teaches and mentors students. Through his past teaching and performing experiences, and additional education with the Global Leaders Institute, Mertens aims to produce socially and culturally responsible community-focused stewards of the saxophone. One of the core tenets of Mertens’ artistry is teaching and performing music that represents and reflects our shared world and current realities. This commitment has led him to commission and premiere 40+ works, with upcoming projects with Anthony R. Green and Zinia Chan. During the 24-25 school year, Mertens will perform concertos by Alexandra Gardner, Cecilia McDowell, and Viet Cuong, and play two recital tours: one in the Midwest with Kenta Saito and Tomoko Kashiwagi to celebrate Japanese saxophone, and another in the UK with saxophonist Gillian Blair. Moreover, as a queer individual and a former scholar in Japan, Mertens’ performance output centers around uplifting and highlighting Japanese and LGBTQIA2S+ composers. Mertens owes much of his development as both an artist and individual to the mentorship and guidance he received from Stephen Page at The University of Texas at Austin, Debra Rhodes at Hastings College, and Masato Kumoi at Kunitachi College of Music. He found artistic voice with Yamaha saxophones, D’Addario reeds, and Rousseau mouthpieces, and he now proudly represents these companies as an artist.