NATHAN MERTENS
Saxophonist・Teaching Artist
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Three Biography Options: Preferred Bio -- "Industry Standard" Bio -- Japanese Bio （日本語）
PREFERRED BIO
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 constantly 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 develop saxophonists who serve as socially and culturally responsible stewards of music, remaining deeply connected to their communities.
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 40+ works, with upcoming projects with Anthony R. Green and Zinia Chan. During the 2024-2025 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 UK with saxophonist Gillian Blair. Moreover, as a queer individual and a former scholar in Japan, Mertens’ performance output centers around uplifting and highlighting Japanese composers and LGBTQIA2S+ composers.
Mertens owes much of his development as both an artist and individual to the mentorship and guidance he received from Stephen Page at The University of Texas at Austin, Debra Rhodes at Hastings College, and Masato Kumoi at Kunitachi College of Music. He found artistic voice with Yamaha saxophones, D’Addario reeds, and Rousseau mouthpieces, and he now proudly represents these companies as an artist.
Premiering "kWEe(a)r(e)" by Anthony R. Green with Kyle Blake Johns and the Spectrum Ensemble at Charlotte Street
JAPANESE BIO
ネブラスカ州ヘイスティングス大学卒業。テキサス大学大学院にて修士号を取得、同大学院にて博士号を取得。これまでにソリストとして釜山オーケストラ（韓国）、ヘイスティングスオーケストラ(米国)、テキサス大学オーケストラ(米国)と共演。 GAP講習会（フランス）に参加、優秀者として選抜されコンサートに出演。第14回くらしき国際サクソフォーンコンクール第３位受賞。北国際音楽コンクール（スウェーデン） 第２位受賞。北米サクソフォン・アライアンス・ソロコンクール、アラパホ・フィルハーモニーコンチェルトコンクール、イースタン・コネチカットシンフォニー・インストゥルメンタルコンクール、コーダレーン・シンフォニー・オーケストラ・ヤング・アーティストコンクールファイナリスト受賞。
文部科学省研究生奨学金を得る初のアメリカ人サクソフォーン奏者として東京を拠点に、国立音楽大学に留学。日本のサクソフォーン演奏と教育学を主に研究。これまでにサクソフォーンをデブラ・ロードス、スティーブン・ペイジ、雲井雅人の各氏に師事。博士（音楽）。
コロアド大学でサクソフォーンを教えている。
Performing with "Time Unfolding" with the CU Wind Symphony. Matthew Dockendorf, conductor
INDUSTRY STANDARD BIO
US-based saxophonist, Nathan Mertens (he/him) currently serves as Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the University of Colorado Boulder. As an active soloist and chamber musician, he has performed in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Bolivia, the United Kingdom, and throughout the United States. He has performed as a soloist with ensembles including the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, Austin Saxophone Ensemble, Hastings Symphony Orchestra, and has played within the San Antonio Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Fort Collins Symphony, and the Omaha Symphony.
Previously, Mertens lived in Tokyo, Japan as a Monbukagakusho Research Scholarship recipient with the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. As such, Mertens was the first American saxophonist to formally study in Japan. Seeing that Japanese music wasn't well-known or easily accessible in the West, Mertens created the Japanese Saxophone Database to bridge that gap. While in Tokyo, he played with the Kunitachi Saxophone Ensemble, the Japan Saxophone Orchestra, Marie Kikuchi, and Emi Kondo.
Mertens has commissioned and premiered works by composers including Lucy Armstrong, Akiro Ito, Sachie Kobayashi, Rob Buckland, and Zach Browning. He has premiered these works with many ensembles across the globe at the World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance Conference, and other concert venues. Most recently, he commissioned Anthony Greene for a work entitled, “kWEe(a)r(e),” which centers around celebrating and uplifting queer identities.
As an educator & clinician, Mertens has been a guest artist at the Conservatorio Plurinacional de Música (Bolivia), Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore), and many universities and high schools throughout the United States. Mertens has previously been on the faculty at the University of Arkansas, Baylor University, and Hastings College.
Mertens earned degrees from The University of Texas at Austin - Butler School of Music and Hastings College with Stephen Page and Debra Rhodes respectively. He completed additional studies at Kunitachi College of Music with Masato Kumoi, the Global Leaders Institute, and the Université Européenne de Saxophone. He plays exclusively on and is an endorsing artist for Yamaha saxophones, D’Addario reeds, and Rousseau mouthpieces.