BIOGRAPHY

With a sound “rich in overtones” and delivering performances which are “dramatic, intelligent, musical, and reliable,” saxophonist Gabe Read is bringing contemporary saxophone music to wider audiences.

A lover of the standard repertoire and an advocate for new music, Read has performed a wide range of colorful repertoire ranging from baroque transcriptions to newly-commissioned world premieres.

Equally passionate about the saxophone’s unique role in orchestral settings, Read seeks to bring to light and expand the performance and repertoire of orchestral saxophone music. Read’s orchestral ensemble engagements include performances with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra, Music in the Mountains Orchestra, the Folsom Lake Symphony Orchestra, and the Modesto Symphony Orchestra with vocalist James Tormé.

Read has performed in master classes for Todd Rewoldt, the MANA Quartet, Russel Viers, and Preston Duncan. Read is a member of Mu Phi Epsilon music fraternity and Pi Kappa Lambda honor society. He received degrees in Music Education (BM ‘16) and Saxophone performance (BM ‘16 MM ‘22) from California State University Sacramento.

Read is also a music educator maintaining a roster of private students in the greater Sacramento Area and has been the director of bands at El Camino High School in Sacramento CA since 2019.