Alumnus appointed to new faculty position in Saxophone Studio

Alumnus Brandon Quarles (BMus ’15) will begin his role as Lecturer in Saxophone and Allied Areas in July at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. Quarles will co-direct the saxophone studio in applied instruction and chamber music, and teach courses in related areas for the HHSOM.

Prior to his appointment at UGA, Brandon was the Associate Lecturer of Classical Saxophone at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a founding member of ~Nois, an award-winning Chicago-based saxophone quartet specializing in contemporary music and improvisation. As he moves to Athens, devoting himself to full-time teaching, Quarles will be stepping down from his administrative and performance roles with ~Nois and moving into a new position on the organization's Advisory Board.

In addition to a genre-spanning career with the saxophone, Brandon has been making music in the pop/rock idiom for the majority of his life as a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and keyboard player. Brandon holds the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Georgia, where he studied with associate professor of saxophone Dr. Connie Frigo, and the Master of Music degree from Northwestern University, where he is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

“I am excited to be returning home to Athens and the Hugh! As an alumnus, I am honored to be joining the faculty that is redefining music in higher education, embracing interdisciplinary and cross-genre collaborations, and working to build an equitable and inclusive program. In addition to co-directing the saxophone studio with Dr. Connie Frigo, I am looking forward to teaching courses in non-classical music, improvisation, entrepreneurship, and more,” said Quarles.

This position is a new limited-term faculty position in the Saxophone Studio, which was created to assist Dr. Frigo as she steps into her new role in the Arts Lab. She will be a part of the UGA Arts Lab Cluster for the next three years, a new initiative spearheaded by the UGA Arts Council to enhance arts research, practice and community engagement. In her role, she will develop sustainable community engagement music and art projects based in creative placemaking, starting with the Athens Hip Hop Harmonic. “I’m humbled by the opportunity to focus on designing and co-creating music and art projects with the Athens community that focus on mutual artistic curiosity and the desire to learn from and better understand one another, starting with how we make and share our music. What is possible when a Hip Hop artist and a classically-trained composer co-create a piece of music? What inclusive and equitable concert experience can we design that welcomes a diverse audience and removes the barriers to attend and participate? The Athens Hip Hop Harmonic is built on these values and deeper inquiry and we can’t wait to get started in the fall," said Dr. Frigo.

“This is a powerful signal of institutional support of the arts and arts research on campus, and I’m very excited about the possibilities,” said Dr. Pete Jutras, director of the Hodgson School.