The Palmetto Saxophone Quartet is a dynamic ensemble dedicated to exploring new repertoire and delivering unique and profound performances of classic and forgotten scores. As teaching-artists, they are also passionate about nurturing the next generation of saxophonists and chamber musicians through clinics and masterclasses. Formed in the summer of 2019, the ensemble consists of American saxophone virtuoso Clifford Leaman and former students who are now formidable and world-renowned artists in their own right: Andrew J. Allen, Sheldon Johnson, and Matthew Castner. They are proud artist-endorsers of Key Leaves products.

 Professor of Saxophone at the University of South Carolina, Clifford Leaman is in great demand as a soloist and clinician and has performed and taught throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Sweden, Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, and China. He has recorded four compact discs with piano, and two discs with percussionist Scott Herring as the RoseWind Duo.  In addition to his work with piano and marimba, Leaman has performed as a concerto soloist with numerous Wind Ensembles and Orchestras and has recorded concerti by Brant, Bassett, and Dahl.  He has given masterclasses at the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference, the International Navy Band Symposium the World Saxophone Congress and the Asian Saxophone Cngress in addition to  major schools of music and conservatories across the globe.

Dr. Leaman is the soprano saxophone chair in the Palmetto Saxophone quartet and performs in a variety of chamber ensembles.  An avid supporter of contemporary music, Leaman has commissioned and given the world premiere performances of over 35 works, including concerti by William Bolcom, Leslie Bassett, Frank Ticheli, Stacy Garrop, and Michael Colgrass.  Leaman is an artist-clinician for D’Addario, Key Leaves and the Conn-Selmer Company, Inc. and performs exclusively on Selmer saxophones and D’Addario Reserve reeds.

As an active soloist, Dr. Sheldon Johnson has presented performances at the North American Saxophone Alliance’s Biennial Conference, the College Music Society’s Regional Conference, as soloist with the Bowling Green State University Philharmonia, the Roanoke Youth Symphony Orchestra, and in many other public recitals and concerts. As a chamber musician, Dr. Johnson is currently the alto chair in the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet and has performed as part of the St. Olavfestdagene in Trondheim, Norway, the United States Navy Band’s International Saxophone Symposium, the Treetops Chamber Music Society’s concert series, the University of South Carolina’s Southern Exposure concert series, and as part of a film project with artist Matthew Barney. 

Dr. Johnson teaches saxophone at Radford University. He holds a BM from Northwestern University, an MM from Bowling Green State University, and a DMA from the University of South Carolina. His teachers include David Jacobsen, Frederick L. Hemke, John Sampen, and Clifford Leaman. He is a Conn-Selmer and Key Leaves endorsing artist. 

Andrew J. Allen has been lauded as “a master of all sizes of saxophone,” by The Instrumentalist, while The Saxophonist has hailed his "virtuosic saxophone performance,” and The Saxophone Symposium has cited his “complete control of the instrument.”  As a concerto soloist, Allen has appeared with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, along with numerous academic ensembles, and he has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, and Croatia as a soloist and chamber musician. He has premiered more than two dozen works from such composers as François Rossé, Robert Lemay, Fang Man, Jesse Jones, Greg Simon, and Jay Batzner. Allen’s recordings include Step Inside: New American Music for Saxophone and Percussion and The Avenging Spirit, both on the Equilibrium label, and he is a featured soloist on Spring Shadows: Electronic Solo Works by Anne Neikirk on Ravello Records. Present chamber ensemble activities include the percussion and saxophone group Rogue Two (with Gordon Hicken), the flute and saxophone ensemble The Allen Duo (with Elise Naber Allen), and the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet.

Andrew J. Allen is Associate Professor of Saxophone, Coordinator of Winds & Percussion, and Coordinator of the Bachelor of Arts in Music at Georgia College & State University, and he serves as President-Elect of the North American Saxophone Alliance.  His primary teachers include Phil Barham, John Nichol, and Clifford Leaman, and he has received additional instruction from Joseph Lulloff at the Brevard Music Center; Claude Delangle, Vincent David, and Arno Bornkamp at the European University of Saxophone; and Christine Rall at the Rascher Saxophone Quartet Workshop.  Allen is a Conn-Selmer Artist-Clinician, a Vandoren Performing Artist, and a Key Leaves Endorsing Artist, and he performs exclusively on Selmer Paris saxophones and Vandoren mouthpieces, reeds, and ligatures. 

Saxophonist Dr. Matthew Castner enjoys a varied career as a performer and educator based in Boise, Idaho. Currently Dr. Castner serves as Assistant Professor of Saxophone/Music Industry at Boise State University where he leads the certificate program in Music Production. Previous faculty appointments include Winthrop University, University of South Carolina Aiken, Presbyterian College, South Carolina State University, and the University of South Carolina.

Recent performance highlights include a trip to Moscow, Russia to perform James Whitbourn’s Son of God Mass with the Ex Oriente Lux Chamber Choir, a collaborative performance with inmates at the Lee Correctional Institute and a saxophone quartet tour of Helsinki, Finland. He is also a regular performer at North American Saxophone Alliance conferences, as well as the International Saxophone Symposium. As an orchestral performer he has appeared with the Augusta Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic, Florence Symphony, and Longview (TX) Symphony.

As a chamber musician, Matthew is a founding member of the Horn/Saxophone duo PIVOT, a group dedicated to promoting perspective shifts in their audiences through exposure to newly commissioned works. Their debut album “terraform” is now streaming on all major platforms. He is also the baritone chair of the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet.

Dr. Castner holds graduate degrees from the University of South Carolina (DMA) and Stephen F. Austin State University (MM). He earned dual undergraduate degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Music at Case Western Reserve University, utilizing the joint program with the Cleveland Institute of Music. His primary instructors include Dr. Clifford Leaman, Dr. Nathan Nabb, Greg Banaszak and Jeremy Williamson.