Jason McFeaters | Principal Alto Saxophone
Winner of numerous competitions and prizes, saxophonist Jason McFeaters, has performed extensively in the US and abroad. Praised by the press for his extraordinary musicianship and virtuosity, the Baltimore Sun wrote, “McFeaters exuded charisma and effortless virtuosity,” and the Washington Post wrote that “McFeaters played with gorgeous intensity and artistry.”
Mr. McFeaters has performed as a soloist with the symphonies of Baltimore, Fairfax, Frederick Youth, Fort Collins, Gettysburg, Georgetown, the Peabody Wind Ensemble, and the Capital Wind Symphony, of which he is the principal saxophonist. Since 2009, Mr. McFeaters has performed regularly with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, including performances at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, and can be heard on the orchestra’s recordings of “Bernstein’s Mass” and “Gershwin Piano Concertos.” Other performances with the BSO include “On the Waterfront,” “Alexander Nevsky,” and “Fantasia.”
Mr. McFeaters has won prizes in the Yale Gordon Concerto Competition and Heida Hermann’s International Woodwind Competition. He won First Prize in the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival Concerto Competition, third in the Fort Collins Symphony Young Artist Competition, and in Marvin Hamlisch’s “Search for a Star.”
Jason McFeaters is a native of Baltimore, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. He also holds a Masters Degree in Saxophone Performance from the University of Michigan.
In addition to his performance accomplishments, Mr. McFeaters has established himself as one of the premier teachers in the Washington, D.C., area. He has taught Saxophone and Theory at the Levine School of Music since 1999 and directed “Saxes at Strathmore,” one of the country’s largest saxophone-only summer camps for school-aged children. His private students have received the highest honors in county and state bands and festivals, several of whom have continued on to study music at major colleges and universities and continued into music as a profession.
Mr. McFeaters also chairs the music department at North Bethesda Middle School in Montgomery County, Maryland, where he has built and maintained one of the top choral programs in the state. He has worked as a guest conductor for several of the surrounding counties and has lectured at the Maryland Music Educators Association conference sessions on selecting repertoire, motivating students, and building a large program. Articles written about Mr. McFeaters’ teaching have been featured in the Gazette Newspaper and Bethesda Magazine. Mr. McFeaters has previously taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Windsor.
