Musical polymath Kyle Saulnier fuses the American musical vocabulary with modern orchestral techniques and industrial rock aesthetics. WNYC has described his music as “lush and inventive,” and DownBeat magazine referred to it as “a Great American Songbook of another order.” His compositions, arrangements, and orchestrations have been performed nationally and internationally by the Awakening Orchestra, the Metropole Orkest (as orchestrator), Jon Irabagon, the Westerlies, WeatherVest, the Osso String Quartet, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Salina Symphony, Saturn People’s Sound Collective, TURNmusic, and the Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra. His professional work also includes scoring for National Geographic Television and orchestration for the independent feature film Nude Tuesday.

SELECTED production credits

the Awakening Orchestra - volume ii: to call her to a higher plain. (2020, Biophilia), interlude: Atticus Live! - the music of Jesse Lewis. (2016, Biophilia), volume i: this is not the answer. (2014, innova)
Felipe Salles Interconnections Ensemble - Home Is Here (2023, Tapestry), The New Immigrant Experience (2020, Tapestry), The Lullaby Project (2018, Tapestry)
Pablo Masis - Thought and Memory (2023, Brooklyn Jazz Underground)
the Vermont Quarantine Collective - here behind the glass. (2020)
Patrick Cornelius - While We're Still Young (2016, Whirlwind)

Kyle is the artistic director and conductor of the Awakening Orchestra and performs on acoustic and electric basses and baritone saxophone. His creative work is centered on composer-driven projects that integrate improvisation, orchestration, and interdisciplinary collaboration, with a particular focus on hybrid and genre-expansive forms. He has premiered works by Eve Beglarian and Erik Nielsen and has appeared with ensembles and artists including Moppa Elliott’s Acceleration Due to Gravity, Brian Boyes’ Saturn People’s Sound Collective, Myra Flynn, Kat Wright, Francesca Blanchard, Andy Gagnon’s LOVECRAFT, TURNmusic, and Cricket Blue. His collaborative practice includes work with the dance ensembles soft rocks and ERGO Movement. He is regularly invited to serve as a clinician and guest conductor throughout New England.

principal instruments

acoustic & electric bass
baritone saxophone

doubles & other performance credits

tenor saxophone
soprano saxophone
alto saxophone
flute
clarinet
bass clarinet
studio conductor
percussion
backing vocals
guitar
piano
organ

Kyle serves as Director of Jazz Activities at Middlebury College and also teaches in the music department at the University of Vermont. His prior academic appointments include Quinnipiac University and a teaching fellowship at the New England Conservatory. He is the founding director of the Vermont Youth Orchestra’s jazz program and is actively involved with the Music-COMP mentoring program, supporting creative music education for young composers. Kyle resides in Monkton, Vermont, with his wife, violinist Brooke Quiggins.

clinics & masterclasses:

Kyle is active and available for clinics and masterclasses, specializing in contemporary composition and ensemble direction. To inquire about a guest lecture, contact him here.

teaching APPOINTMENTS

Director of Jazz Activities at Middlebury College - Middlebury, VT
Music Faculty at the University of Vermont - Burlington, VT

(Previously)
Quinnipiac University - Hamden, CT
Northern Vermont University - Johnson, VT
New England Conservatory - Boston, MA
Bergen Community College - Paramus, NJ

education:

D.M.A. - New England Conservatory
M.M. - Manhattan School of Music
B.M. - Berklee College of Music