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Woody Witt

Affiliate Artist in Jazz Saxophone

Woody Witt (Saxophone) has been an increasingly significant musical force during the past decade as a saxophonist, composer and as an educator. A professional musician from the age of 16, he received his Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Houston, earned a Master's degree in Jazz Studies from the University of North Texas, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Moores School of Music. He has been a full-time instructor at Houston Community College since 2003, is an Affiliate Artist at the University of Houston, and has conducted a countless number of workshops and master classes throughout the United States, France and Asia. As a saxophonist, Woody Witt has recorded over 25 CDs as a sideman and led ten CDs of his own (Woody Witt, Square Peg Round Hole, Live at Cezanne's, A Conversation, Willows, Seasons Ago, First Impression, Pots and Kettles, Absinthe: The Music of Billy Strayhorn, and Presence). He has collaborated with such major jazz artists as trumpeters Randy Brecker, Tim Hagans and Jim Rotondi; saxophonists James Moody, David Liebman and Tim Armacost; trombonist Conrad Herwig; pianists Joe LoCascio and Mark Levine; drummers Louis Hayes, Adam Nussbaum, and Billy Hart; and singer Nancy King. He has worked with the Houston Symphony, and has been featured on major third-stream works that blend jazz and classical music. The winner of the 2010 Chamber Music America French American Cultural Exchange grant and the 2014 International Jazz Saxophone Competition in Taiwan, Witt is the booker and the artistic director at Houston's top jazz club, Cezanne.