Dr. Nicki Roman, Professor of Saxophone at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will join as Guest Artist for Atlanta Saxophone Day 2025!  Dr. Roman attended ASD as a college student, so it is special treat to welcome her back as a world-class performer and pedagogue.

Nicki Roman is known for “taking listeners on a tour of the saxophone’s capabilities, illustrating the vast tone and range of the instrument.” (Parma Recordings). As a soloist, she has been featured with the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias’ Chamber Orchestra, Eastman Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Wind Symphony, and many more. Roman is the newest member of Splinter Reeds. The sum of their wide ranges of experience–in settings including free jazz, improvisation, electronic music, pop, punk and metal as well as classical–has enabled them to rapidly zero in on a distinct aesthetic identity. Recent concert engagements have included performances at New York City’s TIME:SPANS Festival, Dublin’s Music Current Festival, Chicago’s Constellation, San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center, Vancouver New Music, the Mondavi Performing Arts Center, and Other Minds: The Nature of Music Series. Roman joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Fall 2024. From 2018-2024, she served as the Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is a Selmer Paris Ambassador and Vandoren Artist.