Composer, saxophonist, and educator Demetrius Spaneas has been a featured soloist and composer at major concert venues and international festivals in the U.S., Eastern Europe, and Asia. He was formerly Composer-In-Residence for both the New York City Con Edison and the Bay Area Chamber Symphony Orchestra in San Francisco, California.

A Fulbright Scholar Specialist in American Studies – Music, Spaneas received his first Fulbright grant to teach jazz studies, composition, and music business in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in summer 2013.  He’s also received grants from the State Department and the Fulbright/Hayes Act to present his music and lectures on composition and performance throughout the former Soviet Union, along with presenting numerous talks and concerts for the U.S. State Department in Moscow and St. Petersburg as part of the American Centers program.

Spaneas’ work as a composer, musician, and musical ambassador have earned him awards from ASCAP, Meet the Composer, the American Music Center, U.S. State Department, and Russian Senate. He currently maintains a teaching studio and directs the Suffolk University Jazz Ensemble, both in Boston, Massachusetts.

Albums

From A Far Off World

Release Date: June 9, 2017
Catalog Number: RR7968
20th Century
Chamber
Vocal Music
Electronic
Saxophone
Voice
On FROM A FAR-OFF WORLD (2006), saxophonist and bass clarinetist Demetrius Spaneas performs compositions for woodwinds and electronics. Along with two interludes for alto saxophone composed by Spaneas, the album includes Shaun Naidoo’s Walking in the Dirt for bass clarinet and Blood on the Pattern for alto saxophone, along with Jane Brockman’s Tagore Songs for soprano saxophone.

When Wind Comes to Sparse Bamboo

Release Date: March 27, 2012
Catalog Number: RR7829
20th Century
Baroque
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Saxophone
WHEN WIND COMES TO SPARSE BAMBOO was originally released in 2003. Saxophonist Demetrius Spaneas performs works by Bach, Rands, Britten, Persichetti, Debussy, Martino, Tower, and Heim with contemporary grace, providing new and varied settings to standard and contemporary works.