Darren Dutton

Darren Dutton has extensive performance experience in a variety of genres. Principally a jazz alto and tenor saxophonist, he has performed with the Crane Jazz Ensemble in the first and second alto chairs. In school, Darren was a member of several jazz combos, including the Giroux Honors Jazz Combo and the student-organized Kids' Table Jazz Combo, for both of which he has written several arrangements. He has also played alto and bari sax with the Crane Latin Ensemble, a gigging group specializing in the performance Afro-Caribbean jazz. 

Darren is the alto saxophonist of the Reserved Quartet, a classical saxophone quartet with which he has played for all four years of his undergrad. The Reserved Quartet were the first place winners of the Crane Chamber Competition in 2022 and performed at the NAFME Eastern Division Conference 2023 in Rochester.

While most of his time has been spent with jazz and classical saxophone, he is not limited to these genres, also playing in Arbutus and Vines, a progressive pop band which was formed in 2020 by himself and his classmates at the Crane School in which he plays tenor saxophone and keyboards, and Okay Dad., a fusion band formed in 2019 with high school classmates where he plays alto and writes original music. Okay Dad. released their debut EP "The Tools" in 2020, and Arbutus and Vines is in the recording process for an album. In addition, Darren has performed as a vocalist with the Potsdam Pointercounts, SUNY Potsdam's all-basso a capella group, and in the Crane Concert Choir, which is among the most selective vocal groups on campus. Darren has experience in pit orchestras, including two years of Potsdam's LoKo musical theater showcase and the premiere of the Beautiful and Damned, a musical based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel of the same name first produced at the Jeanne-Rimsky Theater in Port Washington, NY in 2022. The orchestra from the latter production went on to form the Sparrows, a performing group that has since performed several sold out shows at Old Westbury Gardens and a sold out performance at Manhattan's 54 Below.

In addition to saxophone and voice, Darren also performs on both upright and electric bass, flute, clarinet, piano, and has been learning Baroque recorder as a passion project. He is also comfortable with basic music production and video editing, having worked on projects which involved the compilation of several videos and audio tracks into one split-screen performance.