Saxophone Studio
Will Pyle
MASTER OF MUSIC
STUDENT PROFILE
Will was raised in San Antonio, TX, and from a young age, his interests have always been in flux — he bounced from soccer practice to the capoeira studio to drawing comics with his friends. His taste in music has also always been unpredictable. He is the kind of music fan who will become fixated on a particular artist, absorbing their music on repeat before inevitably moving on to something new and, more likely than not, very different.
The exception to this rule has been his love of making chamber music, which started when Willconvinced his high school friends to form the, now award winning, Quid Nunc Saxophone Quartet. He attended Texas Tech University to study with David Dees and became a founding member of the Aruna Quartet. The Aruna Quartet has since garnered national and international acclaim, winning awards at numerous competitions including the Grand Prize of the 46th Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Will serves as Executive Director of the Aruna Quartet’s non-profit organization and continues to take a lead role in managing commissions, fundraising, and community outreach efforts. The quartet is currently focused on exploring new ways to collaborate with composers, storytellers and other musicians. One of these explorations is a recent collaboration with Viet Cuong to craft a new concerto grosso that will premier in March 2023 with the Texas Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble.
Most recently, Will performed at the Divergent Studios festival in collaboration with composers Raven Chacon, Mark Applebaum, Alex Temple, and Pablo Chin. He was also recently featured as a concerto soloist, performing Florent Schmitt’s Legendé with the Texas Tech Symphony Orchestra and David Cho.
Will is continuing his studies at the Eastman School of Music with professor Chien-Kwan Lin, and he is making chamber music as a member of the world-renowned Eastman Saxophone Project. Although he is enjoying the cooler weather in Rochester, NY, as the winner of the Texas Tech University Concerto Competition, he will return to Lubbock, Texas to perform as a soloist with the Texas Tech Symphony Orchestra in October 2021. His listening habits remain sporadic and obsessive. His last fixation was Polyphia but has since moved on to J.I.D..