Sunderman Conservatory of Music

Prof. Amanda Heim is an educator, saxophonist, and arranger. She currently serves on the faculty of the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College, where she instructs private saxophone, saxophone quartet, and courses in aural skills. Heim also coordinates recruitment and outreach for the Conservatory. She is an active arranger, writing for saxophone quartet, wind ensemble, and jazz ensembles. She has a deep interest in pedagogy, and has published materials investigating the use of post-tonal analysis to improve saxophone quartet intonation and performance. Heim earned a degree in music education from Messiah College before attending UNC-Greensboro, where she earned an M.M. and D.M.A. in saxophone, along with a post-master’s certificate in Music Theory Pedagogy. She is an active adjudicator and clinician for marching bands, wind ensembles, and jazz ensembles.

Heim’s recent concert appearances include performances as a soloist with the Grand Rapids Symphony, at the National University of Singapore, Shaanxi Normal University in Xi'an, Beijing Wuzi University, and Shanghai Maritime University. She has also appeared as a featured soloist with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Symphonic Band, and has performed with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, and the Roanoke Pops. Heim has played on stage with musicians including Natalie Cole, Bernadette Peters, Tim Warfield, Eugene Rousseau, Glen Campbell, The Four Tops, Boz Scaggs, John Ellis, Peter Bernstein, and Lee Konitz.

As baritone saxophonist in the Minerva Saxophone Quartet, Heim was a winner of MTNA state and regional competitions, as well as a finalist at the national level. Minerva was also named to the live semi-final round in the prestigious Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, Indiana. Heim is currently the baritone saxophonist for the Junction Saxophone Quartet, a professional ensemble that performs regularly in the mid-Atlantic region and the Midwest. She recently recorded Joseph Turrin’s Concertino for Eleven Winds with the Messiah College Faculty Chamber Players, released on Klavier Records.