woodwinds & Brass
Saxophone
Dan Phipps
Availability
1 hour lessons
45 minute lessons
30 minute lessons
Dr. Dan Phipps is a saxophonist, improvisor, and educator based in Atlanta, GA. An advocate for the creation of new works, Dan has played an active role in commissioning solo and chamber saxophone works. He has attended summer festivals dedicated to new music such as the SPLICE Institute and New Music on the Point, where he worked with festival members and esteemed faculty composers on performances of their work, including world premieres. He can be heard performing free and guided improvisations on Kaphca Trio’s eponymous debut album. Dan has received many accolades as a solo and chamber performer. As a soloist, he has won concerto competitions at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Georgia, the Georgia and Massachusetts MTNA Young Artist Woodwind Solo competitions, received an honorable mention in the Eastern Regional competition, and was a quarterfinalist in the Naumburg International Saxophone Competition.
As tenor saxophonist of the Athena Quartet, he was a semifinalist at the North American Saxophone Alliance 2018 Conference. He is the baritone saxophonist of the Fischoff gold-winning Mixed Media saxophone quartet, and frequently collaborates with the Atlanta Contemporary Music Collective (ATLCMC). In March 2025, Dan performed as a featured concerto soloist with the ATLCMC, playing Badie Khaleghian’s Debilitator, a work he first premiered in 2019. His chamber playing can be heard on studio recordings by the Massachusetts Chamber Players and Mixed Media.
As an educator, Dan has taught saxophone to students of various levels and ages. From 2019-2021 and in 2024, he served as a saxophone instructor at the UGA Summer Music Institute, giving daily masterclasses and private lessons. During his Master of Music studies, Dan taught Freshman Aural Skills, a role which earned him UGA’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 2019.
Currently, Dan works closely with various middle and high schools in North Metro Atlanta, where he teaches private lessons, group lessons, and marching band. Dan’s approach to saxophone lessons synthesizes his aural skills and saxophone pedagogy training and experience: he aims to help students cultivate their own sound and develop their personal interpretation by guiding their ear through the discovery process. Dan holds the Doctor of Musical Arts (minor in music theory) and Master of Music degrees in saxophone performance from the University of Georgia, where he studied under Dr. Connie Frigo and Dr. Brandon Quarles. He holds a Bachelor of Music in saxophone performance from UMass Amherst, where he studied under Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, Lynn Klock, Joe D’Aleo, and Dr. Felipe Salles (jazz).
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