04/25/2025
Our next Faculty spotlight fr the 2025 Schwob Summer Music Festival features Dr. Joe Girard.
Dr. Joe Girard is a concert saxophonist who enjoys a rising career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. His solo and chamber performances have taken him around the country and across the globe, appearing as a soloist with the Reno Philharmonic, Dallas Winds, Columbus State University Philharmonic and Wind Ensemble, University of Michigan Symphony Band, and the Paris Republican Guard Band, among others.
He regularly performs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, LaGrange Symphony Orchestra, and Albany Symphony Orchestra.
As an active chamber musician, and tenor saxophonist of the Sinta Quartet (SQ), he received first prize at the 2013 Concert Artists Guild (CAG) Victor Elmaleh Competition in New York City.
As an educator, Dr. Girard has presented masterclasses and clinics across the United States, including at the Brevard Music Center, Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, and the University of Miami Frost School of Music among others, in addition to internationally at the Conservatori de les Illes Balears, Conservatoire de Paris, and Conservatoire de Versailles
Dr. Girard received his Doctorate from Michigan State University where he served as a teaching assistant to Joseph Lulloff and was awarded a Dissertation Completion Fellowship. He completed his Master and Bachelor of Music at the University of Michigan under the tutelage of renowned saxophone pedagogue Donald Sinta, serving as a teaching assistant during his master’s studies. Additionally, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan.
He is a Légère and Selmer Performing Artist and performs exclusively on Légère Reeds and Selmer Paris Saxophones.
