Joan received her masters degree in saxophone performance from the Eastman School of Music and her bachelors degree in music education and performance from Ithaca College. She has been teaching since 1994, and in addition to Augsburg she has taught at Winona State University, Century College, and Concordia University. She also maintains a large private studio of saxophone and clarinet students in the Twin Cities area.
Joan is an active performer in both the classical and jazz idioms. She plays alto saxophone with the Ancia Saxophone Quartet, an international performing ensemble. With her jazz-funk sextet, Rare Medium, Joan plays alto and tenor saxophones and composes many of their tunes. Other performance activities over the years have included pit orchestra work at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater and other local theaters, orchestral playing, big band and small jazz combos and R&B/rock/blues bands. In her teaching, Joan encourages students to explore as broad a range of styles as desired while developing a solid foundation on the saxophone through the study of standard repertoire, etudes, and scales.
