Alan Durst is a performer and educator with appearances throughout North and Central America,
Asia, and Europe. Diverse in many styles, he has appeared in concert halls such as
Panama City Anita Villalaz, The John F. Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Disney Hall,
Los Angeles Ford Amphitheatre, Oxnard Performing Arts Center, Countrywide Performing
Arts Center, Santa Barbara Arlington Theatre, Fresno Saroyan Theatre, Wadsworth Theatre,
and Cleveland Masonic Temple. He has performed with the New West Symphony, Fresno
Philharmonic, Santa Barbara Symphony, Midland - Odessa Symphony and Chorale, Gang
Nam Symphony Orchestra, Korean-American Symphony, Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, Opera
Pasadena, and Ohio Light Opera. As a jazz saxophonist, Durst has performed with the
Benny Goodman Orchestra led by Fred Sturm, the Panama International Jazz Festival,
Holland America Cruise Lines, Cleveland Playhouse SquareJazz on the Circle series,
as a woodwind performer on numerous musicals, and can be heard on radio and television
broadcasts such as NPR, WB, BRAVO, CBS, and WAO (Panama). He is currently the co-founder/soprano
saxophonist of the Panama International Saxophone Quartet, which actively tours Central
America.
As an educator, Durst is on the faculty of California State University, Fresno, where
he teaches courses in saxophone and jazz studies in addition to directing the "A" Band. He is a member of the Idyllwild Summer Arts Faculty and has given clinics and judged
festivals throughout the United States, Mexico, China, and Central America, in addition
to publishing with Dorn Publications Inc./Needham Publications Co.
Durst has received many awards, including an honorable mention at the Atwater Kent
Concerto Competition (2003), being the first person to win the Three Arts Club of
Lakewood Competition two consecutive years (1998 and 1999), and being the only representative
accepted from North America in 1998 to participate in the prestigious International
Saxophone Masterclasses at the Sweelink Conservatorium von Amsterdam, Holland.
His formal studies include a D.M.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA), an M.M. from the University of Miami School of Music, and a B.M. and B.M.E.Cum
Laude graduate of the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music. He has been fortunate
to have studied with world-class saxophonists Douglas Masek, Gary Keller, and Greg
Banaszak as well as Arno Bornkamp, and Angelo Fortini.
You can learn more about Alan Durst at his website: www.alandurst.com
