By Alex Lemon, Kevin Barrett and Wilson Godfrey

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Apr. 3, 2025)

Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University-Bloomington is one of the most prestigious music schools in the country, reserved for only the best high school musicians from around the world. The audition process is grueling, the workload is intense and burnout rates are high. However, Sophomore saxophone student Dae Taylor looks to be the exception as he is no stranger to the bright lights and center stage. From his start in middle school, through the enduring times of Covid-19 and now debuting concerto’s in college with his quartet, Dae has always been ready to put on a show.

Dae has been exposed to saxophone his whole life, and chose the instrument because of his father, who he listened to practice saxophone growing up. As he started practicing and performing, Dae quickly realized that he not only loved to perform, but progress as a musician. This drive led him to Saxophone teacher Dana Booher, who has become his mentor. 

“I’d get to see him perform sometimes and it was always… super inspiring, you know? I want to play like him one day and see how far I can go.”

It was with his teacher that he found out what it meant to truly perform and influenced his drive to become an artist himself. However, Dae’s dream came to a screeching halt during the Covid-19 pandemic.

 “I went almost two years without performing live music,” Dae said. But instead of giving up, he looked towards the future, working towards that first performance back. Following this unexpected delay, Dae picked up exactly where he left off, loving saxophone the same, if not more. 

“It was just… A joy. A feeling like no other is really what I thought, especially in the moment,” Dae said. “It was a mundane performance in many ways, but in that way it’s really stuck with me. It made me realize again how passionate I am about performing and playing with other musicians.”

Following these performances, Dae made the decision to pursue saxophone performance at the highest level. He made it his goal to study under his teachers mentor, Dr. Otis Murphy at IU

To become the best version of an artist he could be, Dae knew that he would have to continue to develop all new styles which is what he has set out to do by branching out into many different types of performing, from solo work to quartets and also large chamber ensembles. For Dae, each one of these different types of performing allows him to reach into a different emotion and create something new each and every time. This has allowed him to avoid burnout and create a sense of joy in every opportunity, especially with his quartet, Hyperion.

“When I play with my quartet, I feel like it’s a conversation. You’re talking with these other musicians, you’re communicating and you’re really trying to create one cohesive texture and it’s always a great time… it’s very special.”

This feeling isn’t only a bright spot for Dae, but also other members of his quartet

“It’s nice to bring [a quartet] back to the studio and to have a quartet with some guys that were really good friends,” Hyperion quartet member Wyland Diehl said. “The vibe during the rehearsals their really good. We have some laughs, sometimes we get off topic but we’re able to lock in and get all our stuff done so it’s really nice.” 

Through the Hyperion quartet as well as Dae’s own artistic ability has made him a go-to undergraduate saxophonist for fellow undergraduate composers looking to debut new music, which has led to many opportunities for both Dae individually and the Hyperion quartet. These experiences at once in a lifetime performances help shape not only how he plays his saxophone, but how he looks at the notes on the page. 

“If I can get into the zone… really start feeling the music, I’m leaning into the phrases, [and] trying to make it more than just notes,” Dae said. 

Dae, however, is not only the performer, but is also active in the writing process. Dae has found a sense of excitement from getting to work with these composers and beamed at the idea of being apart of the editing process alongside each composer.

“That’s what I think is really fun about playing new music and working with living composers is that you can really get into the music with the person who wrote it,” Dae said.

From following in his mentors footsteps to now majoring in music performance, Dae has carved out a path and sound at IU that is truly his own.