Dr. Steven Hardy is a Downbeat award-winning saxophonist, composer, and educator from Salt Lake City, Utah. Prior to joining the faculty at Brigham Young University – Idaho, Steven performed around the world with the top ensembles of the Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, and Brigham Young University – Provo. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz and Contemporary Media at Eastman in August 2025, researching classical-jazz genre interactions and compositional approaches to the saxophone quartet. His performances on saxophone, flute, and clarinet can be heard on his album Encompassed, a collection of his original small-group jazz compositions.
Steven has performed with luminaries such as David Sanborn, Wayne Bergeron, Gladys Knight, Wycliffe Gordon, Tanya Darby, Dennis Mackrel, and Terrell Stafford, among others. He has collaborated with bassist/composer John Clayton in multiple concerts at Eastman, notably a premiere of Clayton’s large-scale work for the Eastman Jazz Ensemble, Keys are Black, Blacks are Key. He was involved with the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s inaugural National Collegiate Jazz Championship, performing lead alto with the Indiana University Jazz Ensemble to earn second place. In addition to performing at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Dizzy’s Club in New York, Steven has toured with various ensembles in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Australia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
For saxophone resources and information about the BYU-Idaho saxophone studio, visit Dr. Hardy’s personal website: