Quick Facts
Biography
Michael Brockman (DMA), is an American saxophonist and educator at the University of Washington School of Music.
Early life
Brockman was raised in East Coast of the United States before moving to Seattle in 1987. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington and then got Master of Music degree with distinction from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. During his master's degree studies, he was an arranger under Jaki Byard, a composer under George Russell, and woodwind performer under Joe Allard. Following his studies there and eventually obtaining master's degree, he pursued bachelor of music degree at the Lewis & Clark College and was a frequent attendee at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and Music School of Cologne in Germany.
During his time in those places he wrote a dissertation "Orchestration Techniques of Duke Ellington" and was a transcriber of numerous musicians such as Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Malford Milligan, Jimmie Lunceford, Stan Kenton, Thelonious Monk.
Career
Brockman is a lead saxophonist and director of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and with which he performs Duke Ellington Sacred Concert every year and is known to play alongside such musicians as Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, Frank Wess, Frank Foster, Quincy Jones, James Moody, Benny Carter, Ernestine Anderson, Arturo Sandoval, Ella Fitzgerald, Jon Hendricks, Joe Williams and many others.
As jazz soloist and classical recitalist, Brockman is known for his active participation at the Seattle Symphony and doing acclaimed recordings with Jimmy Heath and Clarence Acox Jr.. As a woodwind acoustician, Brockman is an inventor of the Broctave Key, an instrument with an additional octave. For saxophone, Brockman had performed many works, including Gunther Schuller's Sonata for Saxophone.
Brockman had also appeared at many music festivals, including Stanford Computer Music Festival, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Reims Music Festival, New Music Across America Festival, Seattle New Music for Saxophone Festival, Northwest Saxophone Symposium, and the World Saxophone Congress. Besides performances, he is also a director of the University of Washington Jazz in Paris program and serves as a clinician for Conn-Selmer.