Staff Sergeant Stacy Wilson has been hailed as a “young saxophone virtuoso,” and has won top prizes in many national and international competitions. In 2009, she became the first American saxophonist to win one of the top prizes as a saxophone and piano duo in the Gaudeamus International Interpreters Competition in Amsterdam, widely considered one of the most prestigious competitions in the world for the interpretation of contemporary music. Staff Sgt. Wilson has also won first prizes in the William Byrd International Competition and the MTNA Young Artist Competition, among others.
As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, with recent concert appearances in Japan’s Izumi Concert Hall, Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw, and Mahidol University in Thailand. Staff Sgt. Wilson was recently featured as a guest concerto soloist with the United States Army Band in Europe, giving concerts in Oftersheim and Eppelheim, Germany. Since joining the West Point Band in 2008, she has performed as a concerto soloist and was the logistical coordinator and organizer for the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference hosted by the band in 2011.
A dedicated chamber musician, Staff Sgt. Wilson is the soprano saxophonist of the acclaimed Zzyzx Quartet. Featured in the Saxophone Journal as an up-and-coming young saxophone quartet, ZQ was described as “a superb ensemble with impeccable musical taste.” They won second prize in the inaugural North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition in 2008 and were selected as one of seven semi-finalists in the Osaka International Competition in Japan, one of the only American chamber ensembles and the first American Saxophone Quartet ever invited to compete. Zzyzx was a featured concerto soloist at the NASA Biennial Gala Concert at the Tempe Center in Arizona and at a concert featuring some of the top young saxophonists from around the world at the World Saxophone Congress in St. Andrews, Scotland. In 2012, they commissioned an original work for saxophone quartet by world-renowned American composer John Mackey, which is featured on their newest CD, Intersections, released in June 2013.
Staff Sgt. Wilson has been a jury member for the NASA Young Artist competition and has taught at Indiana University and Montclair State University. She earned degrees from Indiana University Bloomington and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
