Introduction

John Sampen is an international award-winning saxophonist who has contributed much to the saxophone profession. His legacy of teaching, performing, and curating repertoire for the saxophone rivals his predecessors and sets a high bar for future generations. In addition to traveling the world to perform (he has concertized in all fifty US states as well as in numerous countries) he has served as Professor of Saxophone (currently “Distinguished Professor”) at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) for forty-four years, and at the time of writing this article shows little sign of slowing down. He has befriended and commissioned some of the leading compositional minds of the twentieth century, and he has instilled his passion for new music in his numerous students who are now playing and teaching the saxophone around the world. His emergence onto the international performance stage was the premiere of a saxophone concerto by Walter Mays in France, a feat that required Sampen to raise the funds to hire an orchestra and organize the premiere while simultaneously teaching in Kansas in the pre-internet era. Jean-Marie Londeix was impressed by his brevity and determination in that endeavor.