Jonathon Nickell

Saxophonist and Woodwind Specialist

Kansas City, Missouri

Jonathon Nickell performing the alto saxophone solo on David Maslanka’s Symphony No. 4 with the CCM Wind Ensemble, 2020.

About Me

Jonathon Nickell

Jonathon Nickell is a multiple woodwinds specialist located in Kansas City, Missouri. He performs regularly with ensembles of all music styles including orchestras, big bands, combos, pit orchestras, blues and rock groups, saxophone quartets, wind bands, and more. Jonathon is conservatory-trained in classical, jazz, and commercial mediums, with extensive experience in teaching these genres. He has taught woodwinds from grades 6-12 at several schools across Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri, maintained a saxophone studio with quartets and saxophone choirs, and taught woodwind pedagogy at the collegiate level. He recently moved to Kansas City to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts with Professor Zach Shemon. Jonathon currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Saxophone and Director of Jazz Ensemble at Eastern Kentucky University, and as Adjunct Professor of Saxophone at Benedictine College.

Follow what I’m up to recently!

After having completed my first week here, I am ecstatic to share that I am serving as the Adjunct Professor of Saxophone and Director of Jazz Ensemble at the Eastern Kentucky University School of Music for this fall semester. The students are so kindhearted, collaborative, and eager to learn. I am grateful to feel much support from the SoM faculty as I've gotten used to things, too. It's been awesome. I am thrilled to share a new recording of Ralph Martino's "A Gershwin Fantasy" by James Li and myself from earlier this year. James and I got to perform it for a few different audiences during the spring, and it was always a crowd favorite. If you'd like to take a listen to the full work, check out my bio. Looking forward to more sessions soon :) Recording day! Long week of work and rehearsals, but ready to record this piece by our friend, JT. I'm looking forward to sharing this down the road. Another excellent work for saxophone and marimba :) Another brief clip from our recital in May with Trevor Good! This is a portion from the 3rd movement of Brendan Weinbaum's new piece for organ and alto saxophone, "The Garden of the Mystical Rose." One of my favorite parts of the entire piece follows after this clip. I'm looking forward to sharing the entire work in the future, and we'll be performing this again before long! #saxophone #organ #classicalmusic #jlvsoundparis #macsaxaustin #saxophone #clarinet #musicaltheatre #lexingtonoperahouse #lexingtontheatrecompany #multiplewoodwinds My two years with the Rootet came to a close this spring. I'm grateful to have gotten the time on bassoon with them! Those who rotated through this group through that time have become some of my best friends, and I look forward to seeing what the next iteration of the Rootet does this year. I already miss playing in a wind quintet, so hopefully again someday soon. Our recording of this live performance can be found through my YouTube channel, link in my bio!