Biography

Dr. Colin Wood is a versatile saxophonist and educator passionate about helping all musicians understand and unlock their ability to improvise. He has performed in a variety of settings and genres in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, and he has studied and performed choro and bossa nova in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Wood previously served as a lecturer of jazz studies and music theory at Ohio State University and also serves on the faculty of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. He received his DMA in Jazz and Classical Saxophone Performance from OSU and his principal teachers include Shawn Wallace, Michael Rene Torres, Jim Hill, Paul Scea, and Michael Ibrahim. 

Wood’s research interests include teaching classical musicians how to improvise and incorporating improvisation more broadly in the music curriculum, and he has presented at local and national conferences on this topic. Through this research, he has developed methods for incorporating improvisation into theory classes, private lessons, studio settings, large and small ensembles, and a stand-alone improvisation course. 

Dr. Wood currently teaches Music Theory, Jazz Ensembles, Improvisation, and Jazz History.