Gregory W. Yasinitsky, Saxophone

Greg Yasinitsky is a Regents Professor of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Washington State University. He received his DMA from the Eastman School of Music and his MA and BM at San Francisco State University with additional studies in saxophone with Joe Henderson and composition with Lou Harrison.

Yasinitsky is nationally known as a composer, arranger and saxophonist. He has written music especially for Clark Terry, David Liebman and the USAF "Airmen of Note." Yasinitsky's music has been performed in over 30 countries and he has received grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Commission Project of New York, Meet the Composer West, ASCAP, Artist Trust, Washington State Music Teachers Association (WSMTA) and the Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA). Several of his pieces have been recorded and over 150 compositions and arrangements have been published by Kendor Music, Warner Brothers, Hal Leonard, Advance Music (Germany), Walrus Music, University of Northern Colorado Jazz Press, Dorn Music, Daniel Barry Music and Hoyt Editions. Yasinitsky has also accepted numerous commissions for orchestral pieces, solo works and chamber music.

Selected orchestral and chamber works can be heard on compact discs released by Vienna Modern Masters, Arizona University Recordings and Open Loop Records. Yasinitsky earned degrees at the Eastman School of Music (DMA) and San Francisco State University (MA, BM) and his teachers in composition include Joseph Schwantner, Wayne Peterson, Lou Harrison, Samuel Adler and Robert Morris.

As a saxophonist, he has appeared with numerous distinguished artists including Lou Rawls, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Louie Bellson, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, Manhattan Transfer, Mel Torme and Clark Terry. Additionally, Yasinitsky is Principal Saxophonist with the Spokane Symphony and has performed as a member of the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Oakland Symphony.

Yasinitsky can be heard with Tom Harrell, Art Lande and others on recordings released by the Musical Heritage Society, Soul Note, Palo Alto and Revelation Records. His playing and compositions can also be heard on compact discs released by his own label, YAZZ Recordings.

Yasinitsky is also in demand as a conductor and clinician, and has presented concerts and workshops throughout the US, Canada, Europe and Japan. Additionally, Yasinitsky has been the subject of articles and reviews in Jazz Player,Saxophone Journal, The Instrumentalist, Jazz Educators Journal and Yamaha's New Ways magazines, and has contributed articles to numerous scholarly journals. Yasinitsky is a Yamaha performing artist and clinician.