Honorary Members

Cecil Leeson

Born December 16, 1902 in Candon, North Dakota, Cecil Leeson’s family soon moved to Arizona. While studying mechanical engineering at Arizona Normal College (now Arizona State University), Leeson became interested in the saxophone through the recordings of Rudy Wiedoeft. He received the Honorary Fellow degree from Dana’s Musical Institute in Warren, Ohio in 1925 and presented his first recital in Arizona the same year. Leeson taught saxophone as director of his own school in Cleveland’s Carnegie Hall and as director of the Hollywood Conservatory of Music in California.

Eugene Rousseau

Born August 23, 1932 in Blue Island, Illinois, Eugene Rousseau has performed across America and on five continents since his Carnegie Hall debut in 1965. His teaching includes guest professorships and master classes throughout the world, including the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, the Paris Conservatory, and yearly courses at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and Ticino Musica in Lugano. Rousseau is Honorary Professor at the Prague Conservatory and at the Instituto G. Braga in Italy. His Deutsche Grammophon recording in 1971 is the first complete disc of saxophone concertos with orchestra.

Harry Gee

Born February 20, 1924 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Harry Gee received his first professional appointment at age 17 as principal clarinet of the Duluth (Minnesota) Symphony Orchestra. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied clarinet with Bernard Portnoy and Ralph McLane. In 1949 he went to Paris as a pupil of clarinetist Gaston Hamelin. In addition, Gee has received degrees from the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Denver. He was a member of orchestras in Denver, Houston, and Minneapolis.

Jamey Aebersold

Jamey Aebersold was born July 21, 1939, in New Albany, Indiana. He attended college at Indiana University and was graduated in 1962 with a Masters Degree in Saxophone. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Indiana University in 1992. He also plays piano and bass. In 1989 the International Association of Jazz Educators voted Jamey to their Hall of Fame at the San Diego convention. With this award Jamey joins other jazz luminaries such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong and others.

Sigurd Rascher

Born May 15, 1907 in Elberfeld, Germany, Sigurd Rascher studied clarinet with Philipp Dreisbach at the Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart. He began to play saxophone at the age of twenty-one and graduated in 1931. Rascher presented his first complete recital and his first solo with orchestra in 1932, followed by a performance of the concerto by Edmond von Borck with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Eugen Jochum conducting.

Donald Sinta

Born June 16, 1937 in Detroit, Michigan, Donald Sinta has concertized widely in the United States, has made concert appearances in Europe and Canada, and is a clinician for the H. and A. Selmer Company. His recording American Music for Saxophone is known throughout the world. Sinta has premiered more than 40 works by American composers. In 1969 he was the first elected chair of the World Saxophone Congress. A pupil of Larry Teal, he holds degrees from Wayne State University and the University of Michigan.

Frederick Hemke

Born July 11, 1935 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Frederick Hemke has appeared as a recitalist and soloist with symphony orchestras and wind ensembles in the United States and around the world. He has presented master classes and lectures throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, the Scandinavian countries, and the Far East. Hemke has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Conservatoire National de Musique, Paris; the Sweelinck Conservatory of Music, Amsterdam; and the Basel Conservatory of Music in Switzerland.

James Stoltie

Born July 10, 1937 in Galesburg, Illinois, James Stoltie was involved with the World Saxophone Congress for several years at a critical time when his efforts were crucial to its survival. Stoltie served as Editor of the World Saxophone Congress Newsletter. In that position he was responsible for much of the organization’s official business, including the granting of official recognition to chapters in several countries such as Switzerland and Australia. Later, as Director of Scholarly Affairs, he was responsible for the reprinting of the booklet Sax and His Saxophone.

Laurence (Larry) Teal

Born March 26, 1905 in Midland, Michigan, Larry Teal began his musical studies with the flute. He received his first saxophone – a tenor with two manual octave keys – in 1919. He quickly learned to read the cello parts in orchestra and began to earn money playing for dances and in the local theater. Teal entered the University of Michigan as a pre-dentistry major and soon became involved in a jazz band which toured Europe in 1925. After the tour, Teal played in several bands in the Detroit area and was an original member of the Casa Loma Orchestra.

Theodore (Sonny) Rollins

Born September 7, 1929 in New York City, Sonny Rollins switched from alto to tenor saxophone in high school and leading a group with Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew, and Art Taylor. Following his graduation, he was in the midst of the bebop scene, working with such figures as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Thelonius Monk. Rollins gained an international reputation starting in the mid-1950s with his own small groups and, in 1954, three of his own compositions which would become jazz standards: Airegin, Doxy, and Oleo. His landmark recordings of this period include Valse hot and St.