2025 Arkansas Saxophone Workshop

Taimur Sullivan is Professor of Saxophone at Northwestern University, and a member of the acclaimed PRISM Quartet. His performances have taken him from the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Knitting Factory, to engagements in Russia, China, England, Germany, and throughout Latin America. He has garnered critical praise as “outstanding…his melodies phrased as if this were an old and cherished classic, his virtuosity supreme” (New York Times), and as a player of “dazzling proficiency” (American Record Guide).   

Mr. Sullivan has dedicated much of his career to promoting new repertoire for the saxophone, and has given the premieres of over 200 solo and chamber works by composers including William Bolcom, Alvin Lucier, Gavin Bryars, Libby Larsen, Gunther Schuller, Olga Neuwirth, John Harbison, Martin Bresnick, Donnacha Dennehy, and many others.  He has also presented the American premieres of compositions by important European figures such as Gerard Grisey, Toshio Hosokawa, Philippe Hurel, Michael Finnissy, Bruno Mantovani, Giya Kancheli, and Jean-Claude Risset. In honor of his distinguished record of promoting and presenting new works for the saxophone, the New York-based arts-advocacy organization Meet The Composer named him one of eight “Soloist Champions” in the United States.  

As a member of PRISM Quartet for 30 years, Sullivan has performed concertos with orchestras nationwide, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and has been invited to conducted residencies at the nation’s leading conservatories including the Curtis Institute of Music, Rice University, and Princeton University. Champions of new music, PRISM has commissioned over 200 works, many by internationally celebrated composers, including Pulitzer Prize-winners Julia Wolfe, William Bolcom, Jennifer Higdon, Zhou Long, and Bernard Rands; MacArthur “Genius” Award recipients Tyshawn Sorey, Bright Sheng and Miguel Zenón; Guggenheim Fellows William Albright, Martin Bresnick, Chen Yi, Lee Hyla, and Steven Mackey; and jazz masters Greg Osby, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Steve Lehman, and Dave Liebman.  

From 2005-2016, Mr. Sullivan was the saxophone professor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and from 2000-2005 was on the performance faculty at Columbia University. He appears on over 50 recordings, performs exclusively on Selmer saxophones and mouthpieces, and is a Silverstein Works endorsing artist. 

Dr. Sarah Hetrick (she/her) is a saxophonist and educator based in Northwest Arkansas. A fierce advocate for her students and their interests, Hetrick serves as Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the University of Arkansas where she engages with the Saxophone Studio in applied instruction, saxophone pedagogy, chamber music, and more. Hetrick is frequently invited to teach and perform at schools and workshops throughout the United States, including the University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota, Baylor University, the Great Plains Saxophone Workshop, and others. 

In her collaborations and programming, Hetrick often curates narratives that focus on the work and lives of women at the intersection of music and art. Hetrick maintains an active schedule as a solo and chamber musician, performing as a member of the sjel duo, Duo Oenomel, the Lyrique Quintette, and more. Hetrick is an avid performer of new music and has commissioned over 40 new works by composers Alexandra Gardner, Katahj Copley, Viet Cuong, and others. Hetrick has performed as a soloist with the University of Central Arkansas Wind Ensemble and The University of Texas Wind Ensemble, and has performed with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith Symphony. 

 Ever curious about the ubiquity and sexualization of the saxophone, Hetrick’s research explores gender, iconography of the saxophone, and the effects of both on practicing saxophonists. Hetrick’s research is published in Contemporary Perspectives on the Legacy of Elise Hall (1853-1924) by Cornell University Press (US) and Leuven University Press (Belgium), and she has lectured throughout the United States on her paper, “He puts the pep in the party”: Gender and the Saxophone in Early-Twentieth-Century American Advertisements. Hetrick enjoys engaging with the innovative work of saxophonists as a reviewer for the Saxophone Symposium Journal.  

 Hetrick has been awarded a Presser Grant, PEO Scholar Award, and a Rainwater Grant for Innovation. Hetrick previously served as Assistant Professor of Music at Texas A&M International University and holds both a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and a Master of Music degree in Saxophone Performance from The University of Texas at Austin. She has completed additional study at Université Européene de Saxophone in Gap, France. 

 Hetrick performs exclusively on Yamaha Custom EX soprano and alto saxophones, D’Addario Reserve Reeds, and a Rousseau NC4 mouthpiece. Hetrick is proud to be both a Yamaha and Rousseau Artist.