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Dr. John Mills
(he/him)

Professor at University of Texas
Composer/Saxophonist
Austin, TX
String Quartet Smackdown III, V, and VI

Dr. John Mills has long been one of Texas’ most in-demand saxophonists, arrangers, and composers. Besides his prolific work as a studio performer, John has recorded and produced three CDs of exclusively original music: Caffeine Dreams and Flying Blind with John Mills Times Ten, as well as his song collection Invisible Designs, featuring long-time Count Basie vocalist Carmen Bradford. His upcoming release of original music is The Bruise of the Lyric — a collaboration with the Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet Cornelius Eady. In 2019, Mills won the SONIC Award for Best Big Band Composition from the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC) and Third Prize at the Enno Linnovalli International Jazz Composition Contest in Helsinki, Finland.

Golden Hornet Austin, Texas Golden Hornet is a non-profit which commissions new music, fosters young and emerging composers, and presents adventurous works in non-traditional settings. Led by Artistic Director Graham Reynolds and Managing Director Kate Murray. All purchases support our programming.