WMU Saxophone Studio

Saxophone AND Karate

WMU SAXOPHONES AT NASA

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1K5RrWsBEB/

I am speaking at The North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference 2026 See more here

Check out the Brevard Music Festival Saxophone Institute with WMU Saxophone Faculty Henning Schröder this summer:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AX5pAMKrr/

Send a message to learn more

Our thoughts are with Pam and the Kynaston family, as we process the sad news of Trent Kynaston’s passing. Trent was WMU’s former saxophone professor, where he built and shaped the saxophone as well as jazz studies program during his 39-year tenure. Trent’s legacy and impact reach far beyond Michigan. Through his prolific career as a performer, recording artist, composer, arranger, transcriber and educator, Trent has influenced generations of professional saxophonists in the US and beyond. To this day, many aspiring saxophonists hone their skills with Trent’s “Daily Studies” publication, his method on circular breathing, or the countless published transcriptions of jazz solos. His name is closely associated with standard saxophone works by Robert Muczynski, and the list of high profile collaborators throughout is career is long and impressive. Since last summer, his former saxophone studio at WMU (Dalton Center, R. 1408) carries Trent and Pam’s name – our students are aware of the profound influence Trent had at WMU and in the saxophone world as a whole. He will be sorely missed by his many students and colleagues! Rest in peace, Trent, and thank you for all the wonderful music and the wisdom that you shared with us!

Check out Alex Lee and Jingwei Yuan tonight at 7:30pm in the Dalton Center Recital Hall with their All-Asian saxophone program!

Western Michigan University Irving S. Gilmore School of Music

Come join our vibrant sax studio!

This Friday!

I received some wonderful news last week.

Dalton Center 1408 has been renamed the Trent and Pamela Kynaston Saxophone Studio, in honor of Trent who taught at WMU for 39 years. Trent and Pamela have set up an endowment for the studio that will allow it to continue to flourish for years to come.

I can’t say that I know Trent as well as some, but he was very helpful to me in so many ways when I took over from him. He provided detailed notes on the members of his studio when I arrived, and made sure to recruit a very strong freshmen class the year he announced his retirement. He answered every question I had for that first year. He returned to Kalamazoo that summer, and I took him golfing. We played at Milham Park, and he impressed me with his game by shooting par! He went about that round with an understated manor and reserve. On the 18th hole he practically whispered, “if I par this hole, I shoot 72.”

He has gone about his career in a similar manner. He was an award-winning classical saxophonist, winning the gold Medaille d'Honeur in saxophone and chamber music from the Conservatoire National de Musique de Bordeaux, France. He started the WMU Jazz Orchestra, and was its director for 30 years. He immersed himself in the world of jazz, and has published numerous compositions, books and articles on various aspects of music, and is recognized world-wide for his jazz solo transcription books (two of which I learned solos from).

At WMU he was deserved lauded with recognition, with honors such Down Beat magazine's Achievement Award for Jazz Education, the College of Fine Arts Outstanding Service Award, the Dean's Outstanding Teaching Award, and the Western Michigan University Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2008 he was recognized as WMU "Professor of the Year."

Thank you to both Trent and Pamela for your commitment to the WMU ISG School of music and the saxophone studio. Your support means a great deal to me personally, and to the many students past and present.

WMU College of Fine Arts
The Irving S. Gilmore School of Music
WMU Jazz Studies
WMU Saxophone Studio