Assistant Professor of Saxophone Zach Shemon enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, and pedagogue. Recent appearances include performing as a concerto soloist in Russia with the Saint Petersburg Palaces International Music Festival Orchestra and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing John Adams’s Nixon in China under the composer’s baton. In Kansas City, Shemon has performed with the Kansas City Symphony and with the contemporary chamber music ensemble, newEar.

2019 marks Shemon’s 12th year as the alto saxophonist of the PRISM Quartet. Since joining the ensemble, PRISM has released numerous recordings on the Albany, innova, Naxos, New Dynamic, New Focus, and XAS labels and performed on many of the world’s leading festivals for contemporary music including the Bang on a Can Marathon, Beijing Modern Music Festival, and SONiC Festival. Shemon has performed with the quartet as a soloist with the Arizona State Symphony Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Cornell Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, and UMKC Conservatory Wind Symphony, among others. PRISM is also committed to educational outreach and has held residencies at top music institutions around the world including the Beijing Central Conservatory, Curtis Institute, Eastman School of Music, Hartt School, University of Michigan, Princeton University, Rice University, Tianjin Conservatory, UMKC Conservatory, and Yale University, among others.