Eugene Rousseau

Eugene Rousseau (born 23 August 1932 in Blue Island, Illinois) is an American classical saxophonist. He plays mainly the alto and soprano saxophones. He studied at the Paris conservatory on a Fulbright grant with Marcel Mule in 1962. Following his studies at the Paris Conservatory, he earned a doctorate degree at the University of Iowa where his principal teacher was Himie Voxman. He was one of the organizers of the first World Saxophone Congress in Chicago in 1969. The first such organization for an individual instrument, considered by many to be a major turning point in establishing credibility for the saxophone as a serious medium of musical expression. During 2005 Rousseau served as President of the Organizing Committee for the World Saxophone Congress XIII, held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The North American Saxophone Alliance honored him with its highest award – Honorary Life Membership. Rousseau has been a consultant for saxophone research to the Yamaha since 1972 and has played exclusively on Yamaha saxophones since that time. The "Eugene Rousseau saxophone mouthpiece" has been commercially available since the late 1970s. In 1985, he recorded a video program for Yamaha Corporation called Steps to Excellence. Rousseau has served as President of both the North American Saxophone Alliance (1979–1980) and the Comité International du Saxophone (1982–1985). In 1993, Eugene Rousseau was designated an honorary faculty member of the Prague Conservatory. In 2003, Rousseau hosted the 13th World Saxophone Congress at the University of Minnesota School of Music. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.