Dr. Andy Wright is Program Director of the music department at Grayson College in Denison, TX where he teaches saxophone lessons and conducts the band and jazz band and also serves as Adjunct Professor of Woodwinds at Austin College in Sherman, TX. Prior to this appointment, he maintained a studio of over 50 students in the DFW area. These students often earn positions in the All-State and All-Region bands along with positions in local ensembles such as the Lone Star Youth Orchestra and the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony. Additionally, his students have been semi-finalists for competitions at the North American Saxophone Alliance biennial conference.
As a saxophonist based out of the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Dr. Wright has been guest soloist with the Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Grayson College Concert Band and the University of North Texas Symphonic Band. He has appeared with various ensembles, mostly notably the Dallas Winds, the Lone Star Wind Orchestra, the North Texas Wind Symphony, the Plano Symphony Orchestra, the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, Odysseus Chamber Orchestra and the Les Elgart Orchestra. Along with numerous solo recitals, Dr. Wright has performed and presented lectures at the World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia and various North American Saxophone Alliance conferences. As a founding member of the SAGA Quartet, he has performed at numerous NASA conferences and has been guest artist are Midwestern State University, Southwestern Adventist University, Southwestern Oklahoma University and Tarrant County College. Recently, the quartet release their debut album, The Avenging Spirit. Dr. Wright can be heard as a featured soloist on multiple recordings from the North Texas Wind Symphony including: Canvases, Reconstructions, Conclave and Offerings along with the Composer’s Collection: George Gershwin, John Mackey and Leonard Bernstein. He has shared the stage with the O’Jays, Ray Charles, Chris Vadala, Steve Houghton, Marc Nuccio and Andy Martin.
Dr. Wright received his doctorate degree in saxophone performance from the University of North Texas studying with Eric Nestler. While at UNT, he was awarded the position of saxophone Teaching Fellow where he taught a studio of performance, music education and jazz studies students. He was presented with a Graduate Assistantship Tuition Scholarship and was recognized as the Outstanding Graduate Student in Woodwinds. Dr. Wright holds a Masters of music degree in jazz studies from the world renown jazz program at the University of North Texas, studying with Jim Riggs along with a Bachelors in music education from the University of Central Arkansas under the tutelage of Jackie Lamar.
Andy Wright is a Yamaha Performing Artist and Vandoren Artist-Clinician performing exclusively on Yamaha saxophones along with Vandoren mouthpieces, reeds and ligatures.