Saxophonist, composer, educator and curator Michael Rene Torres serves as associate teaching professor at The Ohio State University where he has taught concert saxophone since 2015. Torres is the founder and Artistic Director of the Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble (CODE); a 501(c)3 non-profit contemporary music ensemble that is dedicated to the promotion, performance and perception of contemporary concert music in Central Ohio. Additionally, Torres serves as the program director and as an advisory board member of the Johnstone Fund for New Music which advances the performance of new music for the benefit of the Central Ohio community. As a saxophone artist, Michael has performed as a concerto soloist with several ensembles and has presented recitals, clinics and masterclasses at festivals, conferences, concert series, art venues, and universities throughout the USA and Brazil as well as in Canada, Cuba and Spain. As an advocate of contemporary music, Michael has presented the world premieres of more than 100 contemporary works for the concert saxophone. An active chamber musician, Michael is the alto saxophonist of the Iovi Saxophone Quartet and is a member of Tower Duo with flutist, Erin Helgeson Torres. Tower Duo's performances are innovative and narrative driven and often explore improvisation, multi-media, and collaboration with other arts. The Duo focuses on working with living composers to advance the growing repertoire of the flute and saxophone duet. Their debut album, Crosswind, was released by Ravello Records under the PARMA Recordings label in January 2019.

A winner of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award and the Greater Columbus Arts Council Composition Fellowship, Torres' compositional interests are in music that explores the juxtaposition of consonance and dissonance and is often inspired by psychology and poetry. His music emphasizes resonance, timbral exploration, and the use of composite rhythm to create texture and he describes it as both dramatic and introspective. Michael’s recent performances include commissions and premieres by the Worthington Chamber Orchestra, No Exit New Music Ensemble, Carpe Diem String Quartet, the Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble, Tower Duo, and the Kent State University New Music Ensemble. Michael's music is distributed through ADJ•ective New Music.

Fond of improvisation as both a creative practice and a compositional tool, Michael actively performs free-improvisations and has presented clinics and lectures on improvisational process. Torres’ research interests are in studying the current and historical practice of comprehensive musicianship with an emphasis on investigating the mutually beneficial relationship of performing, composing and improvising music. Specifically, he is interested in the educational outcomes of incorporating composition and improvisation into the pedagogy of traditional applied "classical" performance with a belief that learning and practicing basic compositional and improvisational skills can enhance the craft of performing, leading to creative musicianship and innovative interpretive perspective.

As an educator, Michael's teaching philosophy revolves around pedagogical thoughtfulness and cultivating creativity. His pedagogy as Associate Teaching Professor of Saxophone at Ohio State University is rooted in helping students understand and manage the process of cumulative musical learning through goal-oriented development of artistry and fundamental skills, all while encouraging participation through discussion and debate. Michael’s saxophone studio has performed at conferences across the U.S.A. and several of his former Buckeye students are winners of the annual Ohio State Concerto Competition. Graduates from the Ohio State Saxophone Studio are successful band directors, arts administrators, college professors, and military band musicians.

Michael currently serves as organizer of The Ohio State University Contemporary Music Festival and the Artistic Director of the ComProv Symposium. An experienced arts organizer, Michael was the host of the 2026 North American Saxophone Alliance National Biennial Conference and General Manager of the 2013 National Conference of the Society of Composers, Inc. Torres has previously served as lecturer of saxophone and composition at Muskingum University (2011–2021), area coordinator of Composition at The Ohio State University (2021–2023), artist-in-residence with the Wexner Center for the Arts Pages Program (2017–2018), assistant dean of students at the Brevard Music Center Festival and Institute (2010–2015), Executive Committee member of the Society of Composers, Inc. as the editor for the bimonthly national SCI Newsletter (2012–2016), and committee member of the North American Saxophone Alliance's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging and Accessibility Committee (2022–2024).

Torres holds degrees from The Ohio State University (DMA–saxophone, MM–composition), Northwestern University (MM–saxophone), and Stetson University (BME–education). He has studied saxophone with James Bishop, Frederick L. Hemke and Joseph Lulloff, and studied composition with Thomas Wells and Kari Juusela. Torres is a Conn-Selmer Endorsing Artist and performs exclusively on Selmer Paris saxophones. 

Visit Michael Rene Torres' website for more information.

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