Saxophonist Perry Roth is an accomplished solo artist, chamber musician and educator. Roth holds the tenor saxophone chair in the Barkada Quartet, which he joined in the spring of 2017. As an avid performer, Roth has performed with the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Hartt Symphony, the JACK Quartet, the American Modern Ensemble, Third Coast Percussion, and the Atlanta Saxophone Quartet. Roth has premiered new works for saxophone by composers Crystal Birdsong, Robert Carl, Kyle Grimm, Steven Kowaleski, Marc Mellits, Chris Niner, Jeffrey Perry, Jay Rauch, and Jacob Shrum among others.
As an educator, Roth has previously served on the faculty of the Louisiana Stage University Performing Arts Academy, while concurrently serving as the saxophone instructor for the prestigious Wando High School band program in the summers. Roth presented master classes at Southern University (La.), the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Shenandoah Conservatory. Roth’s students have been accepted to music schools across the country and have earned all-state band awards at several levels.
Roth presented guest performances at the 2016 North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference and the 2011 Navy Band Saxophone Symposium. He also served as a saxophone fellow at both the New Music on the Point and Brevard Music Center summer festivals. He was a semi-finalist in the 2012 International Saxophone Symposium and Competition as well as a top award winner in the 2010 and 2011 Music Teacher’s National Association young artist and chamber music competitions.
As a jazz and commercial artist, Roth performed regularly with Rosie and the Swingin’ Riveters throughout his time in Louisiana as well as with Theatre Baton Rouge, Ascension Community Theatre, and Baton Rouge Youth Theatre. Currently a doctoral candidate at The Hartt School, Roth has earned an MM degree from Louisiana State University, where he served as the saxophone teaching assistant. Additionally, Roth earned a Bachelor of Music Education and a performer’s certificate from the University of South Carolina. Roth’s principal teachers include Jan Berry Baker, Griffin Campbell, Connie Frigo, Carrie Koffman, Clifford Leaman, and Deborah Chodacki (clarinet).
As a teacher, my most important goal is to inspire my students and to create lifelong learners. I believe that inspiration can be found in many different forms, from live performances to topic based literature.
Lifelong learning relates to every aspect of one’s life, not just one’s focus on the saxophone. Learning and creating art as a musician teaches discipline in some of the simplest forms. I believe that success and failure are part of the learning process and are often very prevalent in a music students’ journey. These concepts can be translated to nearly all fields of work outside of music.
I consider my teaching to be student-based and focused on the individual learner, guided by what each student wants to achieve while studying saxophone. I believe that students are motivated by a variety of topics and I have discovered that unearthing this motivation can lead to years of successful instruction. Through a commitment to educating students of a diverse background, I pride myself on a holistic approach and cross-curriculum principles.