After seeing a saxophonist busking in the streets in her hometown, a very young Heidi Radtke knew she wanted to play saxophone. 

She got her wish at age 11, and from that moment on, has studied with some of the best classical saxophonists around to become one of the most well-regarded contemporary saxophonists on the scene today.

Her mentors included Timothy McCallister, Donald Sinta, Debra Richtmeyer, Dale Underwood, and Otis Murphy.

She has become a passionate teacher and clinician, teaching at Butler University and currently at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

As a solo artist, Heidi has performed with the University of North Carolina Symphony Band and Wind Ensemble. 

She gave a premiere performance of Stacy Garrop’s concerto Alpenglow with tubist Anthony Kniffen and the Butler University Wind Ensemble at the 2022 American Bandmasters Association Convention and performed Garrop’s concerto Quicksilver at Butler University in the spring of 2018. 

An avid chamber musician, Heidi has performed throughout the United States with fellow saxophonist Henning Schröder as part of the Hiding Duo. She is the tenor saxophonist with the Iovi Saxophone Quartet and performs with oboist Pam Ajango as part of the oboe-saxophone duo, Metalloboe. 

Heidi has performed as a section player with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. 

She has also done studio recording work for Hal Leonard, Carl Fischer, and KJOS Music Publishing.

"CONVERGENCE" is her debut album, and it presents an elegant meshing of the heartbeats behind the sounds of eight living composers, strung together by the saxophone’s ability to explore these soundscapes, especially in the format of saxophone with fixed media.

Heidi Radtke is a Vandoren Artist/Clinician and Conn-Selmer Artist. She performs on a Selmer Paris Supreme alto saxophone, Selmer Paris Supreme tenor saxophone, and a solid-silver Selmer Paris Series III soprano saxophone.

She is a member of NASA’s Gender Equity Women’s Peer Mentoring Program.

The link to her full biography, along with more Resources for this episode, is on our website.

We talked about:

🎷 Her early saxophone listening memory at the oddest place 🎷 How studying jazz improvisation influenced her melodic approach 🎷 Line building in jazz and contemporary music 🎷 How to absorb what you listen to 🎷 How she guides students’ listening 🎷 And much more!

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