Susan Fancher is known for her expressive tone and poetic musical interpretations. She has inspired and premiered over 100 new compositions and continues to collaborate with composers both young and more established to create new, vibrant repertoire for the saxophone. She was awarded the Médaille d'Or from the conservatory in Bordeaux, France, where she studied with Monsieur Jean-Marie Londeix. Susan Fancher is on the faculty of Duke, where she teaches saxophone, coaches chamber music, and teaches a course in Music Entrepreneurship. She is an artist clinician for the Vandoren/DANSR and Selmer companies.
Ināra Zandmane has performed with such artists as Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Augustin Hadelich, Ray Chen, Sergei Antonov, Yura Lee, Martin Storey, Paul Coletti, Ian Clarke, and Branford Marsalis, in addition to regularly performing with Blue Mountain Ensemble and in duos with saxophonist Susan Fancher and violinist Fabián López. Ināra Zandmane is the staff accompanist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Branford Marsalis was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. His first major jobs were with trumpet legend Clark Terry and alongside Wynton in Art Blakey's legendary Jazz Messengers. When the brothers left to form the Wynton Marsalis Quintet, the world of uncompromising acoustic jazz was invigorated. Branford Marsalis has received numerous awards, including three Grammys and a citation as a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. He has become increasingly sought after as a featured classical soloist with such acclaimed orchestras as the Chicago, Detroit, Düsseldorf, and North Carolina Symphonies and the Boston Pops.
Department of Music
