Russell Haight

Associate Professor

Office: Zankel Music Center 118
Phone: 518-580-5332
Email:  rhaight@skidmore.edu

Bio:

Russell Haight (DMA, University of Texas, 2009) is a saxophonist specializing in jazz theory and improvisation. In the jazz idiom, he has performed with luminaries such as Bobby Shew, Bill Watrous, Jim McNeely, and George Duke; in the commercial idiom, he has performed with Christopher Cross and earned a Grammy nomination with blues artist Ruthie Foster in 2021. In 2017, Haight released Destination, his first album as a leader, which won a Silver Medal in the Global Music Awards; in 2019, he released his book, Odd-Meter Etudes for Saxophone with Mel Bay Publishers. He has presented or performed at the International Saxophone Symposium, North American Saxophone Alliance, Jazz Education Network, and Texas Music Educators Association conferences. He earned his Doctorate from The University of Texas where his dissertation won the prestigious Outstanding Dissertation Award. Prior to joining Skidmore College, he was based in Austin, Texas, where he maintained at active performance schedule and taught at Texas State University for 12 years.