Kevin Norton

Dr. Kevin Norton is currently a private instructor and teacher in the Cincinnati metro area, serving as saxophone instructor at the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) and as Adjunct Faculty at Xavier University. Previously, during the 2012–13 school year, he served as Adjunct Instructor at The Defiance College in Defiance, OH, teaching music appreciation and music history.

Dr. Norton earned his DMA in saxophone at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he studied with Dr. James Bunte. A native of Williamsburg, Kentucky, Kevin previously studied at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky under Dr. Nathan Nabb and Prof. Eugene Norden. At Morehead, Kevin earned a Bachelor’s degree (Summa cum laude) in Music Education and a Master of Music in saxophone performance.

He has performed extensively at numerous NASA events since 2007, most recently the 2023 Biennial at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has also performed at numerous Navy Band International Saxophone Symposiums, including each from 2015–20 and 2023. Further, in October 2018, he performed David Biedenbender’s Dreams in the Dusk with wind ensemble at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

In addition, Dr. Norton has actively premiered several new works for saxophone. He (as a member of the 3-2-5 Quartet) premiered Amber Autumn by CCM composer Carrie Magin at the 2012 NASA conference and since has premiered works and arrangements by composers including Ian Dicke (his soprano sax arrangement of his own Chapter One, Page One), Brandon Nelson (PRN for soprano saxophone and piano), and Joel Matthys (Permafrost for soprano saxophone and live electronics). In 2017, he was a member of a consortium that commissioned the alto sax concerto Alcoholic Dissertations by composer Matthew Browne, which Dr. Norton gave a regional premiere of in April 2017 at CCM. Most recently, he was a member of the consortium for Judith Shatin’s new work for alto saxophone and percussion entitled Of Wells and Springs.

At CCM, he also earned a cognate in Romantic and twentieth-century musicology. He continues interest in that field, including having an article published (concerning the so-called "Shostakovich Wars") in the July 2013 edition of DSCH Journal.

In March 2015, Kevin released his first album (with pianist Chialing Hsieh). Titled Americano, it focuses on contemporary saxophone works composed by American-born composers. (It is currently available for download on Bandcamp: https://kevinnorton1.bandcamp.com/album/americano )