Todd Groves is a New York City-based musician performing on saxophones, flutes, clarinets, recorders and world flutes. He performs regularly in a variety of musical settings including jazz, classical, commercial and world music. Since 2003, Mr. Groves has been adjunct professor of saxophone and jazz for the School of Music, where he is a member of the UD Faculty Jazz Ensemble. He is an active composer and arranger and regularly gives clinics throughout the area at universities and high schools. He has been a featured soloist with the UD Wind Ensemble, Delaware Steel and UD Jazz Ensemble I and has performed with the Del’Arte Wind Quintet and Christiana Winds.
Mr. Groves performs regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera (receiving a Grammy for being part of the 2019 recording of Porgy and Bess), New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Albany Symphony, American Symphony, and the Knights chamber orchestra. He has also worked extensively with some of the country's most notable performers, including Audra McDonald, Michael Feinstein, Kristin Chenoweth, Natalie Merchant, Deborah Voigt, Michael Crawford, Natalie Cole, Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin, Linda Eder, Grover Washington Jr., Joel Grey, Tommy Tune, Paul McCartney, Gino Vannelli, Randy Newman, the Greater Trenton Symphony, the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Andy Narrell, Ray Holman, the Highland Divas, and many others. As a NYC commercial musician, he has been a member of the Broadway pit orchestras for Aladdin, Parade, Motown the Musical, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Follies, Catch Me If You Can, Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Ragtime, White Christmas, Sunday in the Park with George and Grey Gardens. Mr. Groves was a member of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular for 11 years, and other NY performances include: Mack and Mabel, High Buttons Shoes, I Married and Angel, Grand Hotel, Tap Dance Kid, On Your Toes, Little Me, Damn Yankees, The Wiz, Anyone Can Whistle, Merrily We Roll Along and Fiorello at City Center; Happiness at Lincoln Center; Yank!; Edward Scissorhands and Play Without Words at BAM; See What I Wanna See at Public Theater, Mother Courage and Her Children for Shakespeare in the Park, and Broadway on Broadway live in Times Square.
A graduate of the University of the Arts, Mr. Groves also performs with both the New York and New Jersey Saxophone Quartets, the Justin Rothberg Group, and the Angie Haas +8. His original compositions for saxophone quartet have received their world premieres at the 2006 World Saxophone Congress in Slovenia and the 2018 Word Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, with American premieres at Carnegie Hall.
Mr. Groves can be heard on the Broadway cast recordings for the above shows, has appeared or been heard on the Late Show with David Letterman, the Tony Awards, the Emmy Awards, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. Other recordings include Boyz II Men, Lucky Stiff (film), The Snow Geese (incidental music), Victoria Clark, Charles Pillow, Sharpe Family Singers, Craig Thomas, Billy Eric, Philip Chaffin, Carols for a Cure, Duo with Rob Brosh, Kayle Brecher, Jane Norman, MTI Junior, Lars Halle, Joshua Kobak, Minas, Marlon Spike, NJSQ, Eric Kearns, Raw Deal, NFL Films, and many independent films. He has appeared as guest soloist with The Wind Symphony of Southern New Jersey, the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey, the University of the Arts Big Band, and the Drexel University wind ensemble.
