Susan Fancher is an internationally-recognized concert saxophonist known for her expressive tone and poetic musical interpretations. In addition to her solo performances, she has performed as the member of many chamber music ensembles, including the Red Clay, Amherst, Vienna, and Rollin’ Phones saxophone quartets. A much sought-after performer of new music, Susan Fancher has inspired and premiered over 100 new works for saxophone.  Most recent premiere performances include Scott Lindroth’s Quintet for soprano saxophone and string quartet with Duke University’s resident Ciompi String Quartet, and a concerto for soprano saxophone by Charles Nichols.

Susan Fancher is an active recitalist, performing frequently with pianist Ināra Zandmane, and presenting master classes as an artist clinician for the Selmer and Vandoren/DANSR companies.  She has performed in many of the world’s leading venues including Sala São Paulo, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Filharmonia Hall in Warsaw, and the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.  Tours have taken her to Albania, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, and throughout the US. 

Over the past decade, Susan Fancher has championed a growing repertoire of concertos for soprano saxophone, including concertos by Mark Engebretson, David Kirkland Garner, Hilary Tann, and Michael Torke.  She premiered Mark Engebretson’s Concerto for soprano saxophone and orchestra in Sala São Paulo under the baton of Ligia Amadio.  The version with wind ensemble was performed with the Chicago College of Performing Arts Wind Ensemble, conducted by Steve Squires, and with the State University of New York at Fredonia Wind Ensemble, conducted by Paula Holcomb.  Susan Fancher gave the premiere performance of David Kirkland Garner's Concerto, based on Celtic themes, with the Duke University Wind Symphony under the direction of Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant, and more recently performed it at the North American Saxophone Alliance’s Region 7 conference with the Western Carolina Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Margaret Underwood.  Together with a consortium of wind ensembles, Susan Fancher commissioned and premiered the wind ensemble version of Michael Torke's Concerto for soprano saxophone.

Susan Fancher’s discography lists over twenty CDs on Arizona University Records, Philips, New World, Lotus Records Salzburg, Parma, Mark Records, Extraplatte, and Innova Records. Her CD release “Of Erthe and Air: Susan Fancher and friends play music of Hilary Tann” on Arizona University Records features a live performance of Tann’s soprano saxophone concerto Shakkei with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, performed in 2009 in Bangkok at the World Saxophone Congress.

Susan Fancher earned her Doctor of Music from Northwestern University, where she was a student of Dr. Frederick Hemke, and the Médaille d'Or from the conservatory in Bordeaux, France, where she studied with Monsieur Jean-Marie Londeix.  She teaches saxophone and coaches chamber music at Duke University and at Wake Forest University.

For more information, visit susanfancher.com