Owen Broder is a member of the GRAMMY® nominated Anat Cohen Tentet and has performed with internationally respected artists such as Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project, Miho Hazama, the Ulysses Owens, Jr. Big Band, and YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox. He earned the title 2018 Debut Artist of the Year from NPR’s Francis Davis and was included on DownBeat Magazine’s 2023 Critics Poll as a Rising Star Alto Saxophonist. His six albums as a band leader have received national recognition. An award-winning composer and arranger, Broder has received commissioned projects from the U.S. Air Force Band in Europe, the Airmen of Note, two off-Broadway shows, and the Winchester Symphonic Winds. A resident of Portland since 2021, Broder teaches core jazz courses at Portland State University and saxophone lessons at Pacific University, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble.

Saxophonist Owen Broder runs in a variety of musical circles, leading his own groups and participating in others. The debut album from his American Roots Project, Heritage (ArtistShare®, 2018), earned him the title of Debut Artist of the Year from NPR’s Francis Davis and a 2018 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. DownBeat Magazine called it a “transcendental work of art.” His co-led quintet Cowboys & Frenchmen was described as “innovative as well as inspiring” (Travis Rogers, Jr., JazzTimes) and received a four-star rating from DownBeat Magazine for its 2017 release, Bluer Than You Think. Broder is a member of the GRAMMY nominated Anat Cohen Tentet and has performed with international respected artists such as Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project, Miho Hazama, and YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox. In musical theater, he was a member of the pit orchestras for the German tour of “Grease” and off-Broadway production “For the Last Time,” and appeared with the bands in David Bowie’s “Lazarus” and the Tony® Award winning musical, “Tootsie.” Broder also originated the woodwind chair in the US premiere tour of “The Bodyguard the Musical.”

UNCSA’s 2021 Artpreneur of the Year Award and the 2018 Eastman/ArtistShare® New Artist program recognized his entrepreneurial ventures for their creative musical programming, innovative presentation, and meaningful impact on the community. Notably, in response to the pandemic, Broder co-founded and performed in Live From Our Living Rooms. The initiative was credited as “the first online jazz festival” (Rolling Stone) and raised over $140k in support of US-based musicians whose performance careers were halted due to COVID-19.

Broder teaches Jazz Theory and Jazz Arranging at Portland State University and saxophone lessons at Pacific University and has visited collegiate music programs and performing arts high schools in over twenty cities in all regions of the country. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, and a Master’s from the Manhattan School of Music.

Saxophonist and band leader Owen Broder runs in a variety of musical circles, leading his own groups and participating in others. He was included on DownBeat Magazine’s 2023 Critics Poll as a Rising Star Alto Saxophonist. With a lyrical approach to his playing, he is recognized for his “smooth-as-silk alto and baritone saxophone work,” (Frank Alkyer, DownBeat) and his improvising as a “model of restraint and concision,” while demonstrating his “facility, timbre, and nimble attack,” (Pierre Giroux, All About Jazz).

His American Roots Project’s debut album, Heritage (2018), was praised by DownBeat Magazine as a “transcendent work of art,” and earned him the title Debut Artist of the Year from NPR’s Francis Davis. DownBeat said of his Hodges: Front and Center, Vol. 1 (2022), “the swing is impeccable,” and included the album on the publication’s list of Best Albums of 2022. Broder’s co-led quintet, Cowboys & Frenchmen, has seen success in international competitions including the DC JazzPRIX, Umbria Jazz Festival’s Conad Competition, and M-Prize, and has received critical acclaim for its three full-length recordings, including a four-star review from DownBeat for their 2017 release, Bluer Than You Think, and singles from their recent 2021 release Our Highway premiered by WBGO and JazzTimes.

Broder is a member of the GRAMMY® nominated Anat Cohen Tentet and the Manhattan Saxophone Quartet and has performed with internationally respected artists such as Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project, Miho Hazama, the Ulysses Owens, Jr. Big Band, and YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox. In musical theater, he was a member of the pit orchestras for the German tour of Grease and off-Broadway production For the Last Time, appeared with the band in David Bowie’s Lazarus and the Tony Award® winning musical Tootsie, and originated the woodwind chair in the U.S. premiere tour of The Bodyguard the Musical.

An award-winning composer and arranger, Broder writes for his own ensembles and a variety of others. “Fans of large-ensemble music might notice the sturdy artistic thread Photo by Adrien H. Tillmann 53 Sound Systems that connects bandleaders Maria Schneider, Ryan Truesdell and Owen Broder,” (Bobby Reed, DownBeat). His composition “Goin’ Up Home” earned him a 2018 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award, and in 2020 he received a commission grant from the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers. Other commissioned projects have come from the U.S. Air Force Band in Europe, the Airmen of Note, the off- Broadway show About Love, and the Winchester Symphonic Winds.

The projects Broder leads are marked by creativity and originative thinking. UNCSA’s 2021 Artpreneur of the Year Award and the 2018 Eastman/ArtistShare® New Artist program recognized his entrepreneurial ventures for their creative musical programming, innovative presentation, and meaningful impact on the community. Notably, in response to the pandemic, Broder co-founded and performed in Live From Our Living Rooms. The initiative was credited as “the first online jazz festival” (Rolling Stone) and raised over $140k in support of US-based musicians whose performance careers were halted due to COVID-19.

Broder grew up in Jacksonville, FL, and also has hometown ties to Detroit, MI, and Washington, D.C. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, and a Master’s from the Manhattan School of Music. He currently teaches Jazz Theory and Jazz Arranging at Portland State University, and saxophone lessons at Pacific University.