Soprano Saxophone, Executive Director

Will Pyle is a saxophonist and media artist based in Portland, OR. He is driven by a love of connecting people with each other and the world around them.

Will first fell in love with chamber music when he formed the Quid Nunc Saxophone Quartet with his best friends in high-school. He pursued music with professor David Dees at Texas Tech University and later continued his studies with professor Chein-Kwan Lin at the Eastman School of Music. In addition to performing with Aruna, Will makes music with Anne Kunkle (saxophone) and Elizabeth W. Mayo (harp) as a part of the unusual trio, keystring. He was selected as a fellow for the Divergent Studio festival and at the 2023 Bang on a Can Summer Festival.

As an arts administrator,  Will serves as Executive Director of the Aruna Quartet’s non-profit organization and continues to take a lead role in managing commissions, fundraising, and community outreach efforts. He also works for Third Angle New Music which creates genre-expanding sonic experiences in Portland, OR and serves on the board of fivebyfive, the leading contemporary chamber music ensemble in Rochester, NY.

As a multimedia artist, Will creates video, digital art and photographs that draw on wide-ranging inspiration. He loves the look of bauhaus color studies, deathcore tee-shirts, mid-century modern chairs, Kodak Portra 800 film, and Edward Hopper paintings.

willmpyle.com

Alto Saxophone

Jose Tony Guzman is a native of Rio Grande City, Texas. Much of his childhood was spent with a controller in hand, playing the video game Halo, where he ranked in the top 0.1% of the country for the latter part of a decade. The dedication that helped him rank at the very top of the esport soon transferred over to the saxophone, among other niche pursuits. In addition to his accolades as a founding member of Aruna, he has also received awards as a soloist from the MTNA solo competition. He studied saxophone with professor David Dees at Texas Tech University and received further instruction from legendary pedagoge Frederick L. Hemke over multiple summers at the Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney, Maine.

Tony is Aruna’s resident “jack of all trades.” By dawn he is trading on the stock market, by midday he’s working on his eBay store and by night he’s either practicing, writing articles on professional boxing, or maybe even playing some Halo.

Tenor Saxophone

Born in northern New Jersey, Ryan’s family moved to Austin, TX in 2005 where he would spend the bulk of his formative years. He started playing the saxophone like many Texas kids, through joining the band program in middle school. While he wasn’t the most diligent musician in those first few years, he would find a passion for music and determination to improve as he proceeded to high school.

While Ryan loved playing the saxophone at this point, he was initially admitted to Texas Tech University as an architecture student before quickly realizing what he really wanted to do was study music. Under the tutelage of David Dees, Ryan would become a founding member of the Aruna Quartet as he went on to complete his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at TTU.

Aside from music, Ryan has been an avid fan of video games from a young age. Growing up exclusively with Nintendo systems, he would begin to branch out starting in his late teens until eventually landing on PC as his platform of choice. His preferred genres are JRPGs, platformers, and action games.

Baritone Saxophone

Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, Andrew’s musical journey began during his middle school years by playing bass guitar in a garage band with his neighborhood street hockey friends. His curiosity around music continued to grow after joining the band program throughout middle school and high school as a saxophonist and marching percussionist. These experiences quickly developed into a passion for music, collaboration, and teaching. 

After deciding to pursue a career in music, Andrew enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as a music education major. He studied classical and jazz saxophone with Dr. Will Campbell and performed in university ensembles including the wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, saxophone quartet, and jazz combos. After completing his degree in 2016, Andrew moved to Lubbock, Texas to continue his studies at Texas Tech University where he studied classical saxophone with David Dees and jazz saxophone with Stephen Jones. Andrew became a founding member of the Aruna Quartet in 2017 and is dedicated to commissioning and premiering new works.

Andrew maintains a private studio of middle school, high school, and adult saxophonists in San Antonio, TX. He enjoys working with a wide range of students of various ages and experience levels. His students have won prizes and recognitions in competitions including the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, the Coltman Chamber Music Competition, and the MTNA solo competitions. Students of Andrew’s studio have regularly placed in TMEA honor ensembles and have been accepted into undergraduate and graduate music programs across the country.