Saxophone guest artist in concert at Adams State on February 18

The Adams State University Department of Music presents Michael Shults, Ph.D., saxophone, performing a guest artist recital at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in Leon Memorial Hall. Equally adept at classical and jazz, Shults’ recital will open with works by Faure, Bonneau, and Demersseman, accompanied by Cheryl Shults, piano, and close with jazz standards and originals, in collaboration with the ASU jazz combo.

As a concert saxophonist Shults has been praised for his “jaw-dropping” and “authoritative” technique (Bill Brownlee of the Kansas City Star) and has recently performed by invitation at the College Band Director’s National Association conference, the North American Saxophone Alliance biennial conference, the Minnesota Music Educators Association Conference, and the University of Iowa Festival for New Music.

Shults is a founding faculty member of the Kansas City Saxophone Workshop along with Zach Shemon, alto saxophonist of the PRISM Quartet. He has also served on the faculty of the Eugene Rousseau Saxophone Workshop at Shell Lake Arts Center and the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. He is currently the alto saxophone chair in the Coalescent Quartet. An assistant professor of saxophone at the University of Memphis, Shults previously held the same position at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

In the jazz realm, Shults has been praised for his “strong, imaginative” improvisations (Downbeat Magazine) and “fresh and intelligent musical ideas” (The Pitch). A first-call musician on the Kansas City jazz scene for nearly a decade, Shults remains an active performer in the Fountain City and beyond, and has twice appeared as a sideman on the Jazzweek National Radio Airplay Charts. In 2018, he was selected to perform at the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference Friday night headline concert as a featured soloist along with Branford Marsalis. As a graduate student at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Shults was a finalist in the 2012 North American Saxophone Alliance Jazz Artist Competition, and was the winner of the Graduate College Soloist category in the 2012 Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards Issue.

Shults will also work with ASU music students in rehearsals, clinics, and masterclasses throughout the day.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $1 for students and seniors, and free to AS&F and are available at the door.