Contact: Greg Yasinitsky 485 NW Robert St. Pullman, WA 99163 509 595 0839 yasinits@wsu.edu
Gregory W. Yasinitsky was born in San Francisco in 1953 and is Professor of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Washington State University where he teaches composition, saxophone and wind synthesis. Yasinitsky earned degrees in composition at the Eastman School of Music (DMA) and San Francisco State University (MA, BM). His teachers include Joseph Schwantner, Wayne Peterson, Lou Harrison, Samuel Adler and Robert Morris. A prolific composer, Yasinitsky has received grants and awards from the Na-tional Endowment for the Arts, The Commission Project, Meet the Composer West, Washington State Teachers Association (WSMTA), Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA), ASCAP and Artist Trust. He has received numerous commissions for orchestral pieces, solo works and chamber music and a number of these pieces have been recorded for CD release by Vienna Modern Masters, Arizona University Recordings and Open Loop Records. Yasinitsky is active as a jazz composer and arranger as well with many works for big band, combos and jazz choir including music written especially for Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, David Liebman and the USAF “Airmen of Note” big band. Yasinitsky’s music has been performed and broadcast worldwide. Over 100 compositions and arrangements have been published by Advance Music (Germany), Dorn Music, Kendor Music, Warner Brothers, Hal Leonard, Daniel Barry Publications, Hoyt Editions, Walrus Music and the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Press. As a performer, Yasinitsky is Principal Saxophonist with the Spokane Symphony and has performed as a member of the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Oakland Symphony and Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. Additionally, he has performed with numerous distinguished artists including Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Louis Bellson, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, Manhattan Transfer, Mel Torme, Clark Terry and many others. Yasinitsky’s saxophone playing can be heard on recordings released by the Musical Heritage Society, Soul Note, Palo Alto and Revelation Records. His playing and compositions can also be heard on compact discs released by his own label, YAZZ Recordings. In addition to his saxophone playing, Yasinitsky performs on Yamaha’s WX7 Digital Wind Controller for synthesizers. Yasinitsky is also in demand as a conductor and clinician, and has presented concerts and workshops throughout the US, Canada, Europe and Japan. Additionally, Yasinitsky has been the subject of articles in Jazz Player and Saxophone Journal magazines and has contributed articles to Jazz Educators Journal, Band World, The Saxophone Symposium and Yamaha’s New Ways and Aftertouch magazines. Yasinitsky is a Yamaha performing artist and clinician.