Shane McCandless is a saxophonist, composer, and educator from State College, PA. A proud Eastman alumnus, McCandless joined the Eastman Faculty as a Professor of Aural Skills in the Jazz department in 2026. Prior to that, he served as a Lecturer of Music Performance at Ithaca College in 2024-2025. As a Saxophonist, he has played with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and at various festivals including the Johnson City Jazz Festival (TN), Rochester International Jazz Festival (NY), Elkhart Jazz Festival (IN), and notable clubs like The Jazz Kitchen (IN) and the Bop Stop (OH). Equally dedicated to composition, he was a 2023 winner of the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer award and his Big Band compositions have been performed by Slippery Rock University Jazz Ensemble, Canandaigua Academy, and East Tennessee State University, the Zeropoint Big Band, and the Downbeat Award-winning Eastman Jazz Ensemble. In addition to his regular teaching, he has also been a guest at East Tennessee State University, the Frost Single Reed day (FL), and at the Fraser Street saxophone camp (PA).
