Dr. Tracy Patterson serves as the Associate Dean and Director of Graduate Studies for the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Winthrop University. He joined the faculty at Winthrop in 2013 as a professor of saxophone and jazz and has taught a variety of graduate and undergraduate courses in performance, theory, and musicology. Patterson established the Commercial Music program at Winthrop in 2022 and currently serves as its coordinator and director of the Commercial Break Ensemble.
As a saxophonist, Patterson has performed alongside notable artists such as Natalie Cole, Linda Eder, The Temptations, Brett Eldridge, and Darius Rucker. Additionally, he has been a featured soloist at various jazz festivals and as a band member on music tours across the United States and Europe. Patterson is a D’Addario and Yamaha Performing Artist and Clinician and exclusively performs on D’Addario reeds and Yamaha saxophones.
Dr. Patterson received the Master of Business Administration from Winthrop University, Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance from Texas Tech University, Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of Central Oklahoma, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Northeastern State University.