Dr. Allison Adams is Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. An avid performer, she is a member of the nief-norf Contemporary Music Ensemble and the tenor saxophonist in the Estrella Consort, a saxophone quartet devoted to the performance of new music. Adams frequently performs with the Knoxville Symphony and has been featured in recitals across the country. She has also performed at the World Saxophone Congress, the International Saxophone Symposium, the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Conferences, and the International Clarinet Association Conference. She was featured as a concerto soloist at the 2019 NASA Region 7 Conference at Western Carolina University. Adams is currently co-authoring a saxophone method book with saxophonist Brian Horner, which focuses on pedagogy for collegiate methods class students and adult beginners.
Besides her study of the saxophone, Adams’ main area of research centers around performance injuries, wellness for musicians, and the integration of yoga into music performance. A chapter on her recovery from focal dystonia is available in the collection Notes of Hope, published by Mountain Peak Music. She has also authored an essay on yoga for musicians, which can be found in the multi-media resource Cross Training for Musicians (available through Mountain Peak Music as well).
Her main saxophone teachers have included Timothy McAllister, Eugene Rousseau, and Steven Mauk. She is a D’Addario Performing Artist.