“David Pope is that rare breed of performer who plays beautifully in all styles of music. He will alter his tone , phrasing, and articulation in an instant to accommodate Baroque, Romantic, or contemporary styles, and his jazz playing burns down the house. I’d be honored to have him play my music on any occasion.”
David Pope is Professor of Saxophone at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia (appointed 2000). He is an accomplished performer, composer, improviser, and author with an international reputation for over one hundred published articles in Saxophone Journal and Saxophone Today. As a soloist, he has performed throughout the United States, in Europe and in Asia. As a classical and a jazz saxophonist, he has performed at the New England Saxophone Symposium, the International Society for Improvised Music (Switzerland), the International Saxophone Symposium (United States Navy Band), conferences of the North American Saxophone Alliance, and the World Saxophone Congress. He served twice on juries of the prestigious $100,000 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition.
Widely recognized for his unique mastery of multiphonics, he self-publishes and has various works with Hal Leonard and Dorn Pub. He can be heard on Open Loop Records, Albany Records, Dazzle Recordings, and with Barry Long's Freedom in the Air.
His students are incredibly successful, teaching and performing throughout the world, from NYC to California, and in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and in Asia. In addition to over 20 years on the faculty at James Madison University, he has given masterclasses across the US and abroad. He has twice served as a member of the faculty of the Asia Pacific Saxophone Academy in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2012, he was named Distinguished Teacher of the College of Visual & Performing Arts at JMU.
David Pope plays a wide variety of instruments, including Armenian duduk, small hand percussion, and various wood flutes from around the world. He builds instruments, restores manual typewriters, creates visual art, and is an opposite-hand calligrapher. Pope endorses the R.S. Berkeley "Virtuoso" alto and tenor saxophones and the AMT "True Acoustic" microphone.
“David Pope’s cd has continued to impress me, not only as a creative exploration of the saxophone’s sonic potential, but more importantly by the masterful way in which he incorporated this extended palette into his music soul. A major step in the instrument’s continued evolution.”