About Steve Duke

Steve Duke is widely known for his work as an accomplished classical and jazz saxophonist and for performing new music and computer music. He is especially recognized for his contemporary improvisations. As a teacher he is recognized for developing jazz and classical crossover performance pedagogy and for the application of the Feldenkrais Method® in learning to reduce stress in music performance. Steve Duke currently serves as a Distinguished Research Professor and Professor of Music at the School of Music at Northern Illinois University.

Training and Education

Steve Duke received a broad training in classical and jazz music ranging from study with leading orchestral musicians on flute, clarinet and oboe to studying jazz with Joe Henderson and Joe Daley. He received a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music at the University of North Texas. Steve Duke also has studied extensively on ways to reduce tension in music performance and is a Guild Certified Teacher in the Feldenkrais® Method. More about Steve's training.

Steve Duke’s early training began at age 5 on electric organ. He began playing saxophone at age 11, and studied extensively on flute, clarinet, and oboe.

Steve Duke received his a Bachelor of Music (1977) and Master of Music (1981) at the University of North Texas (UNT), where his principle teachers were James Riggs and Dennis Diamond. As an undergraduate student, he was awarded the UNT Phi Kappa Lambda Outstanding Soloist Award in 1977, the highest award given for classical music performance. In 1978, he performed as jazz lead alto in the renowned One O’clock Lab Band. Duke’s jazz teachers included Joe Daley and Joe Henderson.

In addition to his work on the saxophone, he studied flute, clarinet and oboe with prominent teachers including, Ralph Johnson (Flute) of the Chicago Symphony, Clare Johnson (Flute) of Southern Methodist University, Gladys Elliot (Oboe) of the Chicago Lyric Opera, Dr. Lee Gibson, (Clarinet) at UNT, Dr. James Gillespie (Clarinet) at UNT and Dr. Charles Veasey (Oboe) at UNT.

In 1987, through his interest in teaching classical and jazz performance and to learn to reduce tension in performance, Duke trained to become certified in the Feldenkrais Method®. He also studied with Arnold Jacobs. Steve Duke is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais TeacherCM and member of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America.

Jazz

Steve Duke has performed at numerous jazz festivals and with notable jazz artists including, Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, Roland Hanna, Zoot Sims and others. He released his first solo album “Monk by 2” on the music of Thelonious Monk on Sony/Columbia. Currently, he performs with his trio, The Steve Duke Trio, in the Chicago area. More about Steve's jazz background.

Steve Duke has worked with notable jazz artists Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Wess, Roland Hanna, Grady Tate, Ed Soph, Zoot Sims, Rosemary Clooney, Fareed Haque and Louis Bellison and others. He has performed at Spoleto USA, the Hilton Head Jazz Festival, the Elgart Jazz Festival and the International Association for Jazz Education Annual Conference.

His earlier commercial performances include The Four Tops, Engelbert Humperdinck, Nelson Riddle, Tommy Dorsey, Helen O'Connor, Danny Thomas, John Gary, Doc Severinson, Frankie Lane, The Temptations, Marvin Hamlisch, Johnny Manthis, Bob Newhart, Danny Thomas, Helen O'Connor, John Gary, Si Zentner, Patti Page, Bob Hope, David Ruffin, Tex Benekee, Roy Clark, Les Elgart and Larry Elgart Big Bands and others.

From 1982 to 1996, Duke performed and recorded duo improvisations in jazz and contemporary music with pianist/composer Joseph Pinzarrone. In 1994 Sony/Columbia released his solo CD “Monk by 2” featuring saxophone and piano duo improvisations with Pinzarrone on the music of Thelonious Monk.

He currently performs in the Chicago area with his trio, featuring Kelly Sill and Kelly Brandt.

Classical and New Music

Steve Duke’s classical performance ranges from orchestral music to computer music.  He has commissioned and premiered over 20 acoustic and electro-acoustic solo pieces, and is the only American performer to have premiered two works that have received top awards from the prestigious Institut international de musique électroacoustique de Bourges. More about Steve's classical and new music performances.

Steve Duke has performed for the American Ballet Theater, Bolshoi Ballet, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Chamber Orchestra, as well as on flute with the Illinois Chamber Orchestra.

Featured at major new music festivals and conferences throughout the North America and Europe, Duke’s solo performances include appearances at International Computer Music Conference, Synthesis Computer Music Festival (Bourges, France), Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), World Saxophone Conference, World, Arts Now Music Series, Music Today Festival, Contemporary Music Festival, Electronic Music Midwest, Music Institute Music Series, the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference, and Annual New Music and Art Festival.

Duke has commissioned and premiered solo works in acoustic and electro-acoustic music  by composers Larry Austin, Jan Bach, Elainie Lillios, William O. Smith, Dexter Morrill, Rodney Waschka III, Cort Lippe, James Phelps, Robert Fleisher Les Thimmig and others. Two of these commissions have received top compositional awards from the prestigious Institut international de musique électroacoustique de Bourges; BluesAx by Larry Austin was awarded the Magisterium in 1997 and Veiled Resonance by Elainie Lillios was awarded 1st Prize in 2009.

Steve Duke solo recordings in classical and new music range from Jan Bach’s Helix with the the Chicago Philharmonic to the CD album of the chamber opera Saint Ambrose by Rodney Waschka III for solo saxophonist/actor and computer music. His solo recordings in new music can be heard on CDCM, Centaur, Capstone, Equilibrium, EMF, GMEB/UNESCO/CIME, and SEAMUS.

Teaching

Steve Duke is known for his pedagogical innovations in jazz and classical performance and in reducing unnecessary stress in performance. He wrote the first article in crossover style technique and developed the first music curriculum in the Feldenkrais Method as a way to reduce unnecessary tension and improve awareness in performance. More about Steve's teaching.

Steve Duke is a Professor of Music at Northern Illinois University, where he has taught since 1980. In 1999, Duke was awarded the Presidential Research Professorship at NIU and currently holds the title of Distinguished Research Professor.

Steve Duke’s article “An Integrated Approach to Saxophone Technique” in Saxophone Symposium (Fall 1988) is the first publication that articulates crossover-style performance techniques in classical and jazz music. Duke also has developed ways to learn improvisation that draws from his performance experience in jazz and new music.

For over 20 years, he has taught musicians throughout the country in reducing tension. His article “Application of the Feldenkrais Method in Learning Music Performance” in Saxophone Symposium (Spring 1996), reprinted from its 1990 publication in the Northern Illinois University Faculty Bulletin, is the first publication on the application of the method in learning music performance.

Former students include Brad Wood, Chris Collins, Larry Panella, Craig Wittaker, Greg Ward, Doug Stone, Nick Bisesi, Jermaine Stegall, Matt James, Joren Cain, Matana Roberts, Diron Holloway, David Hartsman and many others.

Steve Duke is Yamaha Performing Artist.