Saxophonist Matthew Patnode performs in many classical and jazz genres, both as a soloist and chamber musician. As a soloist he has performed with wind ensembles from North Dakota State University, Northern State University, Arizona State University, Scottsdale College, the Lake Agassiz Band, and other community groups. He has performed as orchestral saxophonist with the Phoenix Symphony and the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, and also at international saxophone conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Scotland. He has also been featured as a soloist on Minnesota Public Radio’s regional spotlight.

Dr. Patnode holds degrees and certificates from State University of New York at Potsdam, the Conservatoire de Bordeaux, and Arizona State University. His primary saxophone mentors include James Stoltie, Jean-Marie Londeix, and Joseph Wytko, and he has conducted fiber-optic research on the comparative oral cavities of saxophonists. As an educator and clinician he has presented saxophone and jazz pedagogy clinics at many state music educator conferences throughout the midwest, and in 2013 was named North Dakota Jazz Educator of the Year. He is on the faculty of the International Music Camp at the Peace Gardens on the border of North Dakota and Manitoba, and also at Camp Batawagama in Michigan’s upper peninsula. Additionally, he has served on the faculties of Northern State University in South Dakota, and Scottsdale Community College in Arizona, and serves as a regional director for the North American Saxophone Alliance.

He has appeared in concert with such artists as Buddy DeFranco, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, Ken Peplowski, Allen Vizzutti, Phil Woods, Kurt Elling, Monty Alexander, and backed such personalities as Frankie Valli, Martha Reeves, Wayne Newton, The Temptations, and the Four Tops. He performs with Trio Carrefour, a saxophone, marimba and piano trio; the Hard-Bop Saxophone Quartet, and the Post Traumatic Funk Syndrome. Matthew Patnode is a Conn-Selmer artist and clinician, and performs exclusively on Selmer Paris saxophones.