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U.S.-based saxophonist Nathan Mertens (he/him) currently teaches at the University of Colorado Boulder. For Mertens, teaching the next generation of musicians is a great honor, and he is continually reshaping the ways he teaches and mentors students. Through his past teaching and performing experiences around the world, and additional education with the Global Leaders Institute, Mertens aims to produce socially and culturally responsible stewards of the saxophone and music who are community-focused.
One of the core tenets of Mertens’ artistry is teaching and performing music that represents and reflects our shared world and current realities. This commitment has led him to commission and premiere more than 40 works, with upcoming projects with Anthony R. Green and Zinia Chan. During the 2024-25 school year, Mertens will perform concertos by Alexandra Gardner, Cecilia McDowell and Viet Cuong, and will embark on two recital tours: One in the Midwest with Kenta Saito and Tomoko Kashiwagi to celebrate Japanese saxophone and another in the United Kingdom. with saxophonist Gillian Blair. As a queer individual and former scholar in Japan, Mertens’ performance work focuses on uplifting and highlighting Japanese composers and LGBTQIA2S+ composers.
Mertens owes much of his development as both an artist and individual to the mentorship of Stephen Page at the University of Texas at Austin, Debra Rhodes at Hastings College and Masato Kumoi at Kunitachi College of Music. He found his artistic voice with Yamaha saxophones, D’Addario reeds and Rousseau mouthpieces. He now proudly represents these companies as an artist.