Matthew Castner

Saxophonist Dr. Matthew Castner enjoys a varied career as a performer and educator based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He currently serves as an Instructor of Jazz Studies at the University of South Carolina Aiken where he directs the Jazz Ensemble, Central Savannah River Area New Horizons Band, and teaches Saxophone and Music History. Additionally, he is on faculty at Presbyterian College where he teaches Saxophone and Clarinet. Previous faculty appointments include Winthrop University, South Carolina State University, and the University of South Carolina.  Recent performance highlights include a trip to Moscow, Russia to perform James Whitbourn’s Son of God Mass with the Ex Oriente Lux Chamber Choir, a collaborative performance with inmates at the Lee Correctional Institute and a saxophone quartet tour of Helsinki, Finland. He is also a regular performer at North American Saxophone Alliance conferences, as well as the International Saxophone Symposium.  As a chamber musician, Matthew is a founding member of the Horn/Saxophone duo PIVOT, a group dedicated to promoting perspective shifts in their audiences through exposure to newly commissioned works. Their debut album “Terraform” is now streaming on all major platforms. He is also the baritone chair of the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet.  Dr. Castner holds graduate degrees from the University of South Carolina (DMA) and Stephen F. Austin State University (MM). He earned dual undergraduate degrees in Aerospace Engineering (BSE) and Music (BA) at Case Western Reserve University, utilizing the joint program with the Cleveland Institute of Music. His primary instructors include Dr. Clifford Leaman, Dr. Nathan Nabb, Greg Banaszak and Jeremy Williamson.