Dr. Joshua Heaney is a saxophonist and music educator based in Oklahoma City. His performances and research have taken him to Italy, Switzerland, and throughout the United States at regional and national engagements. Described as, “a sparkling and emotionally charged elixir of sound” (Morning Classics with Mary Claire Murphy), Joshua’s playing has received accolades and praise from audiences and composers alike. He was a prizewinning performer in the Susquehanna University Concerto Competition, Thomas M. Brumby Concerto Competition, Great Composers Competition Series, Georgia State University Honors Competition, Douglas Wayland Chamber Competition, GMTA Chamber Winds Competition, and ENKOR International Chamber Music Competition. He has appeared as a soloist with the Keene State University Concert Band, Heidelberg University Symphonic Band, Atlanta Chamber Collective, Georgia State University Wind Ensemble, among others. Joshua has also performed as principal saxophonist with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Lima Symphony, Macon Symphony, Snow Pond Music Festival Orchestra, and the Eastern Music Festival Pops. He looks forward to upcoming solo and orchestral engagements with the Oklahoma City Symphonic Band and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

An artist striving for novel expression, storytelling, and human connection through contemporary music, Joshua has commissioned and premiered over 40 works by distinguished composers such as Augusta Read Thomas, Marilyn Shrude, Marc Mellits, Michael Schelle, Viet Cuong, and many others. Joshua has performed contemporary works for engagements such as Atlanta SoundNOW, Bowling Green New Music Festival, Indiana State University Contemporary Music Festival, College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference, Society for Minimalist Music’s International Conference on Music and Minimalism, Navy Band Saxophone Symposium, National Association for Music Education Eastern Region Conference, and North American Saxophone Alliance Conferences. He also has been featured on various music series and radio programs, such as ArtsX, EAR|EYE, ASCAP New Music Friday, San Francisco Classical Voice’s Week in Music, WABE Atlanta Music Scene, WGTE Live from FM 91, among others. Most recently, Joshua premiered “Ripple,” a new concerto for saxophone, wind ensemble, and electronics by Matthew Kennedy. Joshua can be heard performing music by Steve Reich and Viet Cuong on commercial single releases and on compilation albums by Stephen Woods and Matthew Quayle. In 2022, Joshua released his debut album ALCHEMY in collaboration with pianist and composer Benjamin T. Nylander, available on CD and digital platforms through Clarinet & Saxophone Classics Recordings (London, UK).

Beyond performing, Joshua is an impassioned music educator and regularly presents masterclasses, clinics, and performances at public schools and universities. His passion for music education extended to a residency at the Giuseppe Sarti Scuola di Musica in Faenza, Italy through the Susquehanna University GO Program, where he researched the Italian community music education system and ear-training pedagogy. Joshua served as Orchestra Director at Rolesville High School in Raleigh, North Carolina as part of the Wake County Public School System. During his tenure at Rolesville, Joshua was awarded Wake County’s Diane Kent-Parker First-Year Teacher Award and was featured on WRAL-5’s Teacher of the Week news segment.

Dr. Heaney serves as Saxophone Instructor & Recruitment Coordinator at Oklahoma City University’s Wanda L. Bass School of Music. He is the founder and director of the Oklahoma Saxophone Ensemble. During the summer, he teaches saxophone at New England Music Camp and the internationally renowned Frederick L. Hemke Saxophone Institute at Snow Pond Music Festival. Joshua holds degrees from Susquehanna University (BME, Cum Laude), Georgia State University (MM/AD), and Bowling Green State University (DMA). His primary teachers include Gail B. Levinsky, Jan Baker, John Sampen, and Frederick L. Hemke, including additional jazz studies with David Bixler. Joshua maintains active affiliations with the National Association for Music Education, the North American Saxophone Alliance, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. 

 Joshua Heaney is a Conn-Selmer Artist Clinician and performs on Selmer Paris saxophones exclusively.