Evan Harris

Evan Harris is a New York-based saxophonist and composer, whose passion for jazz has informed his “vividly evocative” (Words About Music) sound on the saxophone.

 Evan leads his own ensemble, the Evan Harris Quintet, which performs his original compositions, drawing inspiration from the panoramas and cityscapes that have shaped his recent past. The compositions themselves are “cinematic in feel” (Jazz in Europe) and architectural, “painting the sun rising over the jagged line of the city’s skyscrapers” (Words About Music). The Evan Harris Quintet has appeared in New York, as a headline act at the 2019 DC Jazz Festival, and across Australia for a national album launch tour, presenting Evan’s debut album Skylines. Skylines garnered three nominations for the 2018 Australian Jazz Bell Awards; Best Instrumental Jazz Album, Best Produced Album and Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year. Skylines is available through label 54 Records on CD, vinyl and all digital platforms.

Originally from Sydney, Australia, Evan has established himself with performance credits ranging from Miguel Zenon’s Identities are Changeable to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Wynton Marsalis Quintet. At the formative age of 26, Evan has been acknowledged with a number of accolades, including the title of 2018 Young Australian Jazz Musician of the Year, a grant from the Arts Council of Australia, and the Gerry and Franca Mulligan Scholarship. Evan maintains an active performance calendar locally in New York City at venues such as the Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Minton’s Playhouse, and Smalls Jazz Club, and has toured metropolitan and regional Australia, the USA, and Switzerland.

Having graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Music (Honours First Class), Evan was awarded the University Medal, a credit recognising the most distinguished graduate. He subsequently completed a Master of Music (Jazz Studies) degree at The Juilliard School in 2018 and was awarded the William Schuman Prize, which recognises a graduate student of music for outstanding achievement and leadership. Evan continues his studies at Juilliard where he is completing an Artist Diploma in Jazz Studies, a two-year performance-based post-graduate program.

While serving as President of Sydney Youth Jazz Ensemble, and as Treasurer of the Jazzgroove Association, Evan became an active member of the artistic community, which he continues to represent as a part of the Sydney University Graduate Union of North America's Young Alumni Council, and as a peer assessor for Australian Arts Fund Grants.

As an educator, Evan has presented lecture-demonstrations, workshops and clinics on behalf of a Lincoln Center Moments, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Musica Adobe, Viva, Jazz Workshop Australia and the University of Sydney. Evan appears throughout NY as a teaching artist for S'Cool Sounds and operates his own private studio, which is based in Brooklyn. 

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