Sunderman Conservatory of Music

Dr. Amanda Heim serves as Coordinator of Jazz and Lecturer of Saxophone at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College, where she also serves as Coordinator for Recruitment and Outreach. She directs the Gettysburg College Jazz Ensemble and coaches saxophone chamber ensembles, as well as teaching courses in music theory and music education. 

Dr. Heim has been featured as a saxophonist on major releases by Node Records and Klavier Records, as well as a soprano vocalist on Canary Classics records. She is also the featured saxophone soloist on the 2023 major motion picture, The Monkey House, directed by Avi Nesher. Heim performs regularly in both jazz and classical venues, and she is the baritone saxophonist in the Buzz Jones Big Band as well as the baritone saxophonist for the Junction Saxophone Quartet, a professional ensemble that performs regularly in the mid-Atlantic region and the Midwest. 

Dr. Heim’s recent concert appearances include performances as a soloist with the Modesto Symphony Orchestra under the direction of David Lockington, at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., 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. Dr. 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.

Dr. Heim has presented at conferences focusing on the connection between jazz pedagogy and its application for classical saxophonists, and she has also published materials investigating the use of post-tonal analysis to improve saxophone quartet intonation and performance. 

Originally from Pavilion, New York, Dr. 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 performance, along with a post-master’s certificate in Music Theory Pedagogy, studying saxophone with Chad Eby and Steven Stusek. She is an active adjudicator, clinician, and conductor for marching bands, wind ensembles, and jazz ensembles.