Dr. Jason Kush

Soprano Saxophone

Dr. Jason Kush is an active saxophonist, educator, and scholar.  He is an Associate Professor at Slippery Rock University and an Artist-Lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Conn-Selmer and Selmer Paris artist.  Kush has performed as a soloist and ensemble member in wide variety of genres in the United States, Europe, and Central and South America. He has completed 200+ services and a European tour with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra.  As a freelance artist, Kush has appeared with the Woody Herman Orchestra, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, New World Symphony (European tour), Maceo Parker, Arturo Sandoval, Eddie Daniels, Paquito D’Rivera, Benny Golson, Sean Jones, Andrea Bocelli, Hugh Jackman, and many others.  Kush’s solo discography includes Intersecting Lines (New Focus Records/Naxos) and Sonate (Armazi Productions). 

Dr. James Flowers

Alto Saxophone

James Flowers is Assistant Professor of Music at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and adjunct professor of saxophone at Westminster College. James holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in saxophone performance and literature with a minor in Jazz from the Eastman School of Music in addition to a Masters in Music Performance from Bowling Green State University and a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Youngstown State University. James has won first prize at The Music Teacher's National Association Chamber Music Competition, The Coleman National Chamber Music Competition, and was a finalist at the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) National Conference Solo Competition.  

Dr. Flowers has presented various programs at the North American Saxophone Alliance national and regional conferences, the World Saxophone Congress, the Navy Band Saxophone Symposium, the Heidelberg New Music Festival, and the International Villa-Lobos Festival.  He has toured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and performed with The Cleveland Duo, Wayne Newton, Marie Osmond, Bobby Vinton, Ben Vereen, Mary Wilson from the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, The Fifth Dimension, Al Martino, Deana Martin, Cleveland Fats, The Carmen Mico Orchestra, North Side Jazz, and the jazz trio Stretch. He also is currently a member of the Greenville Symphony and Bridges Saxophone Quartet

James’ principal saxophone teachers include Fred Boles, James Umble, Marco Albonetti, John Sampen, Ramon Ricker, Charles Pillow, and Chien-Kwan Lin. James has also studied clarinet with Debbie Alexander, Robert Fitzer, and Kent Engelhardt, and flute with Jacqueline Arrington.

Joe Scheller

Tenor Saxophone

Joe Scheller currently works as a saxophonist, arranger, composer, and educator in and around the greater Pittsburgh area. He is an alumnus of both the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University (BS in Music Education, 2011) and Carnegie Mellon University (MM in Saxophone, 2017). While in school, Joe performed alongside artists such as Slide Hampton, Rufus Reid, Ralph Lalama, Allen Vizzutti, Sean Jones, and Carter Pann. Joe has studied saxophone with Dr. James Umble, Dr. Kent Englehardt, Alex Costanza, Eric Defade, Jason May, and Greg Lutz.  

Professional experiences include performances with The National Tour of Disney’s Aladdin, The Temptations, Maceo Parker, Monica Mancini, Anne Runolfsson, the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, The Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, The Lettermen, and Azúcar. In the past, a passion for educating young musicians has led him to faculty positions at South Side Area High School, Elizabeth Forward High School, and with the Carnegie Mellon University Music Extensions program.  

Joe currently serves on the faculty at Kiski Area School District and Carnegie Mellon University, while also maintaining a large private studio of woodwind students.  He can be heard performing regularly with No Bad Juju, the Bridges Saxophone Quartet, and the Balcony Big Band.

Benjamin Morris

Baritone Saxophone

Benjamin Morris is a Miami-based saxophonist whose multifaceted musical abilities have resulted in myriad opportunities during his promising career. Since 2017, Morris became one of the saxophonists on the New World Symphony (Michael Tilson-Thomas, artistic director) roster. Previously, Morris completed a Master of Music degree at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While there, Morris won the 2017 Wind Ensemble Concert Competition.

During his time in Pittsburgh, he performed with the Pittsburgh Ballet Orchestra, Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, the Butler Symphony Orchestra, and the Balcony Big Band. Morris is a founding member of the Bridges Saxophone Quartet, a modern professional saxophone quartet focused on bridging the gap between classical and jazz chamber music and expanding the repertoire in both genres.

Currently, Morris is enrolled in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, where he is a Henry Mancini Institute Fellow, an active member of the Frost Saxophone Quartet, a member of the Concert Jazz Band, and a Teaching Assistant to the studio of Dale Underwood.