Parker Fritz (b. 1997) is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator.

As a saxophonist, Parker maintains an active performance schedule, participating in chamber music concerts, solo recitals, collaborative recording projects, and educational outreach programs. Parker has contributed to numerous commercial recording projects with the University of Oklahoma Wind Symphony, Michigan State University Wind Symphony, Codex Quartet, Zenith Saxophone Quartet, Zen Duo, and Composite Duo. In 2021, he was featured as the soprano saxophonist on Convergence, the debut album by the Zenith Saxophone Quartet and Zen Duo. In 2022, Parker performed as a soloist with the University of Oklahoma Wind Symphony with William Bolcom’s Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Band. Parker has been involved, through commissioning projects, recordings, and world premiere performances, in more than 20 saxophone quartet works, including pieces by Zhou Tian, Kevin Day, Josh Trentadue, Jordan Vanhemert, and others.

​

As a composer, he regularly writes music for established professionals, collegiate faculty, conferences, workshops, and professional and academic ensembles. Parker’s passion for music composition is fueled by his curiosity and interest in music’s ability to express complex emotions and stories through sonic metaphor. This vision is at the core of his compositional process, resulting in a variety of presentations and styles. His music has been performed on university faculty and student recitals and collegiate band and percussion ensemble concerts, and at music conventions such as the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) regional and biennial conferences, the Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), and the Great Plains Saxophone Workshop (GPSW).

​

Parker is deeply committed to music education and teaching. His private saxophone students consistently achieve success in prestigious state-level Solo and Ensemble festivals, audition-based honor bands, and summer music programs. He has also served as the saxophone instructor and chamber ensemble coach for the Spartan Youth Wind Symphony. Parker has taught saxophone and composition as a guest lecturer at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He is a faculty member at the Great Plains Saxophone Workshop, where he teaches private lessons in saxophone and composition, as well as group saxophone lessons and chamber coachings. Additionally, Parker has presented lectures on balancing a dual career in performance and composition to saxophone and composition students at institutions across Michigan, Oklahoma, and Florida.

Parker has earned recognition in numerous regional and national competitions as a soloist, chamber musician, composer, and academic. His top national honors include 2nd place in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) National Chamber Music Competition (2018), 1st place in the MTNA National Composition Competition (2022), and the bronze medal in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition (2025). Additional accolades include 1st place in the regional MTNA Young Artist State Woodwind Competition (2021), 2nd place in the Glass City Chamber Music Competition (2024), semifinalist status in both the Coltman Chamber Competition and the North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition, and alternate placement in the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition. At the university level, Parker received 2nd place in the Michigan State University Barbara Wagner Chamber Music Competition (2024), won the Jere Hutcheson Large Ensemble Composition Competition (2023), and was a winner of the University of Oklahoma Graduate Division Concerto Competition performing William Bolcom’s Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Band (2021), as well as the Rising Stars Solo Competition (2021). During his undergraduate studies at Central Michigan University, he was awarded the Centralis Gold Scholarship (2015), the Presser Foundation Undergraduate Scholar Award (2018), and the Provost’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishment (2019).

​

As a composer, he regularly writes music for established professionals, collegiate faculty, conferences, workshops, and professional and academic ensembles. Parker’s passion for music composition is fueled by his curiosity and interest in music’s ability to express complex emotions and stories through sonic metaphor. This vision is at the core of his compositional process, resulting in a variety of presentations and styles.

In addition to his work as a performer and composer, Parker is an active researcher in the fields of saxophone pedagogy, history, and orchestration. His academic achievements as an undergraduate include receiving the Presser Foundation Undergraduate Scholar Award, the Provost’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishment, and the Centralis Gold Scholarship. His Honors Capstone project at Central Michigan University, titled Orchestration and Analysis of Charles Ives’ Piano Music Using Henry Brant’s Theories of Blend and Balance, involved a detailed orchestral arrangement of the second movement of Ives’ First Piano Sonata.

Parker holds a Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude from Central Michigan University, as well as master’s degrees in saxophone performance and composition from the University of Oklahoma. He is currently a double doctoral candidate in saxophone performance and composition at Michigan State University. His mentors include John Nichol, Jonathan Nichol, Joseph Lulloff, Evan Ware, Marvin Lamb, and Ricardo Lorenz.